Home / Quotes / Quote by Kenneth E. Boulding

Quote by Kenneth E. Boulding

“[The notion of equilibrium] is a notion which can be employed usefully in varying degrees of looseness. It is an absolutely indispensable part of the toolbag of the economist and one which he can often contribute usefully to other sciences which are occasionally apt to get lost in the trackless exfoliations of purely dynamic systems.”

Quote by Kenneth E. Boulding

Author

Kenneth E. Boulding

Kenneth E. Boulding was a renowned economist, born on January 18, 1910, and passed away on March 18, 1993. His research in economics covered a wide range of fields, particularly in general systems theory, conflict theory, and peace studies. more

You May Also Like

“In view of the importance of philanthropy in our society, it is surprising that so little attention has been given to it by economic or social theorists. In economic theory, especially, the subject is almost completely ignored. This is not, I think, because economists regard mankind as basically selfish or even because economic man is supposed to act only in his self-interest; it is rather because economics has essentially grown up around the phenomenon of exchange and its theoretical structure rests heavily on this process.”

“I know that some books and some writers, you can pretty much draw a square around it and say, 'Nobody under 40,' or 'Nobody under 25.' With my books, it always has been, and continues to be, spread right across the board, and I think the operative term is 'reader.'”

Thinking Knows Has Beens Book Term Reader Draws Spread Boards Squares

Author:Margaret Atwood

“A somewhat casual observer from outer space might well deduce that the course of evolution in this planet had produced a species of large four-wheeled bugs with detachable brains; peculiar animals which rested when they sent their brains away from them but performed in rather predictable manner when their brains were recalled.”

Wells Might Courses Space Animal Brain Four Planets Evolution Species Peculiar Observers Bugs Casual Predictable Outer Space

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding

“The concept of need is often looked upon rather unfavorably by economists, in contrast with the concept of demand. Both, however, have their own strengths and weaknesses. The need concept is criticized as being too mechanical, as denying the autonomy and individuality of the human person, and as implying that the human being is a machine which "needs" fuel in the shape of food, engine dope in the shape of medicine, and spare parts provided by the surgeon.”

“It [knowledge] is clearly related to information, which we can now measure; and an economist especially is tempted to regard knowledge as a kind of capital structure, corresponding to information as an income flow. Knowledge, that is to say, is some kind of improbable structure or stock made up essentially of patterns - that is, improbable arrangements, and the more improbable the arrangements, we might suppose, the more knowledge there is.”

Kind Made Might Information Flow Regard Structure Patterns Income Related Arrangements Economist Tempted Improbable Corresponding More Knowledge

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding

“No science of any kind can be divorced from ethical considerations... Science is a human learning process which arises in certain subcultures in human society and not in others, and a subculture as we seen is a group of people defined by acceptance of certain common values, that is, an ethic which permits extensive communication between them.”

People Humans Kind Certain Values Process Common Groups Acceptance Communication Ethics Arise Defined Consideration Ethical Permit Divorced Learning Process Human Society Subculture

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding

“The concept of a value-free science is absurd.”

Values Concepts Absurd

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding

“Knowledge exists in minds, not in books. Before what has been found can be used by practitioners, someone must organize it, integrate it, extract the message.”

Mind Has Beens Book Used Found Messages Organize Integrating

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding

“[The question for the behavioral disciplines is simply] what is better, and how do we get there?”

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding

“It is almost as hard to define mathematics as it is to define economics, and one is tempted to fall back on the famous old definition attributed to Jacob Viner, "Economics is what economists do," and say that mathematics is what mathematicians do. A large part of mathematics deals with the formal relations of quantities or numbers.”

Hard Fall Deals Numbers Economics Relation Mathematics Definitions Quantity Mathematician Formal Economist Tempted Fall Back Jacob

Author:Kenneth E. Boulding