Entangled Political Economy and the Two Faces of Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This paper contrasts two forms of entrepreneurship -- genuine and parasitical -- within a framework of entangled political economy. In 1911, Joseph Schumpeter described entrepreneurship as the locus of leadership within a capitalist economy. At that time state participation in economic activity was dramatically less than it is now. Entrepreneurship was largely free of political entanglement. After a century of governmental expansion, however, entrepreneurship has increasingly become entangled in parasitical political relationships. Where genuine entrepreneurship is a feature of a constitution of liberty, parasitical entrepreneurship is a feature of a constitution of control.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entangled political economy, Jane Jacobs, polycentricity vs. monocentricity, parasitical political pricing, liberty and politics

JEL Classification: D02, L14, L26, L33