Quotes by Economist | Beyond Motive 2/40

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Quotes by Economist

"Producer's Surplus is a convenient name for the genus of which the rent of land is the leading species."

"Producer's Surplus is a convenient name for the genus of which the rent of land is the leading species."

Alfred Marshall, English Economist

Land, Leading, Name

36

"People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything."

"People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

People, Meetings

35

"If you don't do anything stupid when you're young, you won't remember something funny when you're old."

"If you don't do anything stupid when you're young, you won't remember something funny when you're old."

Auliq Ice, Ugandan Economist

Youth, Mistake, Funny, Old

35

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem."

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem."

Milton Friedman, American Economist

Government, Solution

35

"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong."

"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

People, Being, Decisions, Wrong

35

"Well, by the standards of a lot of countries, by Latin American standards, it wasn't so bad."

"Well, by the standards of a lot of countries, by Latin American standards, it wasn't so bad."

Paul A. Volcker, American Economist

Personal, Countries

34

"Dull would be the man who should merely tolerate this plan of social industry. Weak would be the position of him who should take an apologetic tone in defending it, or present its claims in a merely negative way, by exposing the evils and perils of the socialistic plan."

"Dull would be the man who should merely tolerate this plan of social industry. Weak would be the position of him who should take an apologetic tone in defending it, or present its claims in a merely negative way, by exposing the evils and perils of the socialistic plan."

John Bates Clark, American Economist

Negative, Man, Present

33

"I recognized that information was, in many respects, like a public good, and it was this insight that made it clear to me that it was unlikely that the private market would provide efficient resource allocations whenever information was endogenous."

"I recognized that information was, in many respects, like a public good, and it was this insight that made it clear to me that it was unlikely that the private market would provide efficient resource allocations whenever information was endogenous."

Joseph E. Stiglitz, American Economist

Information, Public

32

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

Milton Friedman, American Economist

Government, Nothing

32

"Property is theft."

"Property is theft."

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French Economist

Politics, Property, Theft

32

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand."

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand."

Milton Friedman, American Economist

Government, Years

32

"There are only two ways of telling the complete truth - anonymously and posthumously."

"There are only two ways of telling the complete truth - anonymously and posthumously."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

31

"The rich, by unfair combinations, contribute frequently to prolong a season of distress among the poor."

"The rich, by unfair combinations, contribute frequently to prolong a season of distress among the poor."

Thomas Malthus, English Economist

31

"Talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty."

"Talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

31

"The increase in inequality in income is a longtime trend, but the pressure on middle- and low-income workers is going up rapidly. Especially if they live in an area where there are high housing and gas prices, like California."

"The increase in inequality in income is a longtime trend, but the pressure on middle- and low-income workers is going up rapidly. Especially if they live in an area where there are high housing and gas prices, like California."

Alice Rivlin, American Economist

Income, Inequality, Pressure, Workers

31

"In economics, the majority is always wrong."

"In economics, the majority is always wrong."

John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

Economy, Economics, Majority, Wrong

30

"The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is that kind of a system."

"The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is that kind of a system."

Milton Friedman, American Economist

Capitalism, Greed, Harm, Will

30

"The propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals."

"The propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals."

Adam Smith, Scottish Economist

Man, Men, Animals, Race

30

"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."

"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."

John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

30

"Graceful aging starts by leveling the playing field between emotional landmines and physical grievances."

"Graceful aging starts by leveling the playing field between emotional landmines and physical grievances."

Auliq Ice, Ugandan Economist

Aging, Grace, Life, Emotion

29

"Capital is that part of wealth which is devoted to obtaining further wealth."

"Capital is that part of wealth which is devoted to obtaining further wealth."

Alfred Marshall, English Economist

29

"On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity."

"On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity."

Adam Smith, Scottish Economist

Uncertainty, Ambiguity, Road, Skepticism

28

"For me, socialism has always been about liberty and solidarity, but also about responsibility."

"For me, socialism has always been about liberty and solidarity, but also about responsibility."

Jacques Delors, French Economist

Liberty, Responsibility, Socialism, Solidarity

28

"There's a certain part of the contented majority who love anybody who is worth a billion dollars."

"There's a certain part of the contented majority who love anybody who is worth a billion dollars."

John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

Love, Majority, Worth

28

"The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture."

"The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture."

John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

Cultural, Culture, Speech

28

"Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?"

"Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?"

Milton Friedman, American Economist

28

"Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased."

"Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased."

Adam Smith, Scottish Economist

Money, Wealth, First, Gold

28

"The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world."

"The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world."

Max Weber, German Economist

27

"The greatest good fortune of my return to Cambridge in 1946 was that there, in the spring, I met Elizabeth Fay Ringo. We were married a few months later."

"The greatest good fortune of my return to Cambridge in 1946 was that there, in the spring, I met Elizabeth Fay Ringo. We were married a few months later."

James Tobin, American Economist

Fortune, Months, Spring

27

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

Conservative, Justification, Man, Philosophy

27

"To find ways of practicing democracy, not ways of orating about it, is our great problem."

"To find ways of practicing democracy, not ways of orating about it, is our great problem."

Mary Barnett Gilson, American Economist

27

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

Adam Smith, Scottish Economist

Economy, Benevolence, Interest

27

"The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man."

"The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man."

Thomas Malthus, English Economist

Power, Earth, Man, Population

27

"My record at the University of California as an undergraduate was mediocre to say the best."

"My record at the University of California as an undergraduate was mediocre to say the best."

Douglass North, American Economist

Study, University

27

"The 10 largest antitrust law firms in the United States have gone into the federal courts charging Monsanto with creating a global conspiracy in violation of the antitrust laws, to control the global market in seeds."

"The 10 largest antitrust law firms in the United States have gone into the federal courts charging Monsanto with creating a global conspiracy in violation of the antitrust laws, to control the global market in seeds."

Jeremy Rifkin, American Economist

Control, Law, Laws, States

27

"One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the vision of liberals as compassionate and conservatives as less caring."

"One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the vision of liberals as compassionate and conservatives as less caring."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

Time, Vision, Caring, Liberals

27

"The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil."

"The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil."

Thomas Malthus, English Economist

Virtue, Evil, Temptation

26

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."

John Maynard Keynes, English Economist

Creativity, Ideas, Difficulty, Lies, Old

26

"It is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil."

"It is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil."

John Maynard Keynes, English Economist

Creativity, Ideas, Evil

26

"The development of a political-economic framework to explore long-run institutional change occupied me during all of the 1980s and led to the publication of Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance in 1990."

"The development of a political-economic framework to explore long-run institutional change occupied me during all of the 1980s and led to the publication of Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance in 1990."

Douglass North, American Economist

Change, Development, Performance

26

"The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepts blacks in the top ten percent of students, but at MIT this puts them in the bottom ten percent of the class."

"The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepts blacks in the top ten percent of students, but at MIT this puts them in the bottom ten percent of the class."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

Technology, Class, Students

26

"Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated."

"Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

Money, Society, Knowledge, Information

26

"Success is like a seed, it waits for the right conditions that will allow it to grow."

"Success is like a seed, it waits for the right conditions that will allow it to grow."

Auliq Ice, Ugandan Economist

Growth, Success, Time, Life

25

"I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments."

"I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments."

Friedrich August von Hayek, Austrian Economist

History, Exaggeration, Gain, Inflation

25

"It was not until I got my first job, at the University of Washington in Seattle, and began playing chess with Don Gordon, a brilliant young theorist, that I learned economic theory."

"It was not until I got my first job, at the University of Washington in Seattle, and began playing chess with Don Gordon, a brilliant young theorist, that I learned economic theory."

Douglass North, American Economist

Learning, Chess, First, Job, Theory

25

"I do not know which makes a man more conservative - to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past."

"I do not know which makes a man more conservative - to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past."

John Maynard Keynes, English Economist

Conservative, Man, Nothing, Past

25

"For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to every one that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still."

"For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to every one that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still."

John Maynard Keynes, English Economist

God, Gods, Years

25

"My brother and sister are both older than I am and were born before my father went off to World War I."

"My brother and sister are both older than I am and were born before my father went off to World War I."

Douglass North, American Economist

War, Father, Sister, Brother

25

"You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing."

"You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing."

Thomas Sowell, American Economist

25

"Have your one good cry, pick your chin up, smile, and move on to the positive."

"Have your one good cry, pick your chin up, smile, and move on to the positive."

Auliq Ice, Ugandan Economist

Positivity, Smile, Positive, Strength, Resilience

25

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