In his treatise, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, economist Joseph Schumpeter describes what he calls the “process of creative destruction,” by which new products and services supplant existing ones; for example, the automobile’s replacing the horse and buggy. Such “destruction,” he stressed, is the natural outcome of business competition, but not so much the competition among existing firms, rather competition from…
Curt Gowdy, the legendary sportscaster, once thanked Ted Williams, the legendary baseball player, for making him a better announcer. Williams respectfully scoffed at the idea, replying that he didn’t know anything about announcing. But Gowdy explained that, No, what had improved his announcing was observing Williams’s approach to hitting, that Gowdy had been struck by Williams’s commitment to understanding the…
A wall display in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris describes the origins of Impressionism in painting. Included in its description is this passage: “The Impressionists wanted to paint their own era. They uncovered its modernity in the stations, avenues and cafés of Paris, in popular leisure pursuits on the banks of the Seine, and in suburban landscapes where industry was…