Mastering the spirited horse: A review of The Economics of Creative Destruction

Abstract The publication of The Economics of Creative Destruction (2023), edited by Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen, represents a definitive summation of the endogenous growth revolution initiated by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt in 1992. This comprehensive volume centers Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction – the process by which innovation disrupts existing structures to pave the way for the new – and offers a rigorous framework for understanding productivity, inequality, and environmental sustainability. Our review aims at highlighting the volume’s revelatory power by synthesizing its nine parts through the lens of evolutionary economics. To this end, we explore the book’s hidden advocacy for a shift from quantitative to qualitative growth, and conclude by examining the critical nexus between Schumpeterian dynamism and the concept of degrowth.