Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist, argued that disruptive upstarts were needed when incumbent firms failed to drive innovation.
The risk for incumbent firms is that of the proverbial boiling frog. They may not know when to switch from old to new until it is too late.
Earlier efforts have tended to degenerate into rent-seeking, lobbying and cosy deals between incumbent firms and bureaucrats, stifling innovation and the process of creative destruction.