Creative destruction (German: schöpferische Zerstörung) is a concept in economics that describes a process in which new innovations replace and make obsolete older innovations. [1]

Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) coined the seemingly paradoxical term “creative destruction,” and generations of economists have adopted it as a shorthand description of the free market ’s messy …

Oct 14, 2025 · A look at the evolution of the theory of creative destruction, widely regarded by economists as a defining feature of capitalist economies.

Aug 24, 2025 · Creative destruction, a term coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942, refers to the process where innovation dismantles long-standing economic structures, making way for new …

Creative destruction refers to the incessant product and process innovation mechanism by which new production units replace outdated ones. It was coined by Joseph Schumpeter (1942), who …

Schumpeter describes creative destruction as a process “... of industrial mutation ... that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly …

Creative Destruction or Schumpeter’s Gale refers to the process in which new entities in the economy replace obsolete ones. The term refers to capitalism’s ability to innovate, destroy, and then reinvent …

The term “creative destruction”, while sometimes attributed to Schumpeter, was actually first used by a German economist and sociologist named Werner Sombart, in his 1913 book, War and Capitalism.

Guide to Creative Destruction and its meaning. Here, we explain its benefits and economic examples and comparison with disruptive innovation.

Definition: Creative destruction refers to the process by which new innovations and entrepreneurial activities disrupt and replace established economic structures, industries, and technologies....