Economist Joseph Schumpeter, who taught at Harvard from 1932 until his death in 1950, popularized the term "creative destruction" to describe the capitalist process in which entrepreneurs introduce new goods and services to economic markets that displace existing goods and services. Though this innovative process results in increased wealth and better standards of living overall, not everybody benefits equally. The opportunity cost of buying a newly available product is the use of the old one that has been given up, so those in the camp of the new, different, and desirable do very well, while those camped out with the old and no longer desirable products see their prospects decline.
Provide an example of creative destruction you have witnessed during your lifetime and describe what the benefits and costs to the economy have been. Who was enriched and whose fortunes declined?
Construct thoughtful, detailed responses to the cases contributed by at least three of your classmates.