Schumpeter and the Crisis of the Tax State

Abstract

Starting from the question, why J. A. Schumpeter wrote his basic article on “The Crisis of the Tax State” in 1917/1918, the contents and interpretations of that article are object of the following reinterpretation. It is based on recent contributions to the biographical literature, history of economic thought, public finance and economic and social policy. Schumpeter’s view of the Tax State is pointed out, in order to investigate, if - according to his vision - the Tax State will go bankrupt necessarily or not. Furthermore, different views of the Tax State which were developed after World War II, entitled as Neo-Schumpeterianism etc., are considered to some extent. Also, the impact of the Tax State on the modern Welfare State is pointed out. Finally, the results are summarized and exposed by conclusions.They demonstrate that Schumpeter’s view of the Tax State still matters, because it is an analytical concept on the study of the longterm development of the economic system and the Welfare State.