Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy is the most famous book by Joseph Schumpeter in which he deals with capitalism, socialism and creative destruction. First published in 1942, it is largely unmathematical, compared with neoclassical works, focusing on the unexpected, rapid spurts of entrepreneur-driven growth instead of static models.

The book is unusual insomuch as it was written to appear sympathetic to socialism, beginning with an account of Karl Marx, in order to encourage socialists to read it. Schumpeter hoped they would achieve self-recognition of the problems with socialism in the light of the book, without having to be explicitly told: if the book appeared to be favourable to capitalism, he feared socialists, his target audience, would not bother to read it.

熊彼特（1883～1950）Schumpeter,Joseph Alois 奥地利裔美国经济学家。当代资产阶级经济学代表人物。出生于奥匈帝国摩拉维亚省一个织布厂主家庭。就学于维也纳大学,1906年获法学博士学位。曾游学伦敦。先后在奥国几所大学、德国波恩大学、美国哈佛大学任教。曾任经济计量学会、美国经济学会会长。

熊彼特对资本主义长期发展趋势、经济学说发展史等方面进行了广泛的研究。他用创新理论解释资本主义的本质及其发生、发展和灭亡。他认为,创新是把生产要素和生产条件的新组合引入生产体系,创新包括新财富的创造、新生产方法的采用、新市场的开辟、新资源的开发和新产业组织的形成。企业家的职能就是创新,而经济发展就是整个资本主义社会不断实现新组合。创新通过扩散,刺激大规模投资 ,引起高涨,一旦投资机会消失,经济转入衰退,从而创新产生资本主义生产的经济周期。经济进步会使资本主义自动进入社会主义。他的学说随科学技术进步在当前受到了更多学者的重视。著有《经济发展理论》、《经济周期：资本主义过程的理论、历史和统计分析》、《资本主义、社会主义和民主主义》、《从马克思到凯恩斯十大经济学家》、《经济分析史》等。