Entrepreneurship – the fundamental question for economists and business theorists alike.
A bit of a lull, but considerable progress on preparing for a Special Issue on Frank Knight.
Studying the context of Knight’s studies and PhD thesis has recently been re-energized by several new books on capitalism, especially those of Jonathan Levy and Sven Beckert. Key is the American critique of laissez-faire ideas and the US panics and upheavals at the end of the 19th century. The relevance of Knight (and related colleagues) today is that, as at the end of the 19th century, academics and politicians are trying to deal with how our economy is simply not working well enough to stave off major upheaval and its associated social and political risks.
Aside from this Knight-oriented research program, there are now two Cambridge Elements lists under way – business strategy AND business history.