“Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.” PartyLibertyEconomicTaxesGainsAssumingDebtSpendingLibertarianTendenciesFixedExpensesLibertarianismPieFree MarketProperty RightsFallacyWealth Of Nations Book:Free to Choose: A Personal Statement Source: Free to Choose: A Personal Statement
“The notion that a society could be regulated entirely by market forces is a utopian fantasy: an impossible dream generated by imagining what the world would be like if everyone's behavior was utterly consistent with some abstract moral ideal-in this case, economic theories that assume all human action is based on calculating, systematic, (but scrupulously law-abiding), greed.” IfsWorldHumansDreamWould BeActionLawForceMoralCasesFantasyImpossibleEconomicTheoryBehaviorIdealsAssumingNotionGreedLibertarianAbstractConsistentAbidingSystematicUtopianCalculatingHuman ActionsEconomic TheoryImpossible Dream Author:David Graeber
“[M]any females would, even assuming complete economic equality between the sexes, prefer residing with males or peddling their asses on the street, thereby having most of their time for themselves, to spending many hours of their days doing boring, stultifying, non-creative work for somebody else, functioning as less than animals, as machines, or, at best - if able to get a "good" job - co-managing the shitpile. What will liberate women, therefore, from male control is the total elimination of the money-work system, not the attainment of economic equality with men within it.” IfsMenAbleJobsSexHoursAnimalCreativeEconomicStreetsFemaleMachinesAssumingMalesBoringSpendingAssGood JobAttainmentEliminationCreative WorkEconomic EqualityPeddling Author:Valerie Solanas
“Liberalism makes this mistake in regard to private property and Marxism makes it in regard to socialized property... The Marxist illusion is partly derived from a romantic conception of human nature... It assumes that the socialization of property will eliminate human egotism... The development of a managerial class in Russia, combing economic with political power, is an historic refutation of the Marxist theory.” HumansWisdomPoliticalPoliticsMistakeClassEconomyEconomicHuman NatureTheoryDevelopmentIllusionRegardAssumingPropertyRussiaLiberalismConceptionHistoricMarxismEgotismPrivate PropertyPolitical PowerMarxistSocializationRefutationMarxist Theory Author:Reinhold Niebuhr
“The problems raised by a conscious direction of economic affairs on a national scale inevitably assume even greater dimensions when the same is attempted internationally. The conflict between planning and freedom cannot but become more serious as the similarity of standards and values among those submitted to a unitary plan diminishes.” ProblemValuesGreaterPlansEconomicSeriousConflictStandardsConsciousAssumingRaisedAffairScalesPlanningDimensionsDiminishSimilarityStandards And Values Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
“To undertake the direction of the economic life of people with widely divergent ideals and values is to assume responsibilities which commit one to the use of force; it is to assume a position where the best intentions cannot prevent one from being forced to act in a way which to some of those affected must appear highly immoral. This is true even if we assume the dominant power to be as idealistic and unselfish as we can possibly conceive. But how small is the likelihood that it will be unselfish, and how great are the temptations!” PeopleIfsWayUseValuesForceResponsibilityEconomicPositionIdealsAssumingIntentionCommitTemptationAffectedDominantImmoralDivergentUnselfishLikelihoodIdealisticUse Of ForceBest Intentions Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
“Just as men must give up economic control when their wives share the responsibility for the family's financial well-being, women must give up exclusive parental control when their husbands assume more responsibility for child care.” MenGivingWellsChildrenCareResponsibilityWifeShareEconomicHusbandGiving UpAssumingFinancialWell BeingExclusiveBeing A WomanParentalChild CareResponsibility For Children Author:Augustus
“The economic disasters of socialism and communism come from assuming a blanket superiority of those who want to run a whole economy.” WantWholeRunningEconomyEconomicAssumingDisasterSocialismCommunismSuperiorityBlanket Author:Thomas Sowell
“Roughly 1 in 6 Americans have Irish blood. I'd say it's probably safe to assume that the average Irish-American who only comes out on St. Patrick's Day has no idea of the sort of economic powerhouse Ireland has become.” IdeasBloodEconomicSafeAssumingAverageNo IdeaIrelandSt PatrickSt Patrick's Day Author:Scott McClellan
“If I were a German today, I would be proud, proud but also worried. I would be proud of the magnificent achievement of rebuilding my country, entrenching democracy and assuming the undoubtedly preponderant position in Europe. But a united Germany can't and won't subordinate its national interests in economic or in foreign policy to those of the Community indefinitely. Germany's new pre-eminence is a fact - and its power is a problem - as much for Germans as for the rest of Europe.” IfsCountryFactsProblemWould BeTodayInterestCommunityUnitedDemocracyEconomicPolicyPositionProudAchievementEuropeAssumingWorriedGermanyForeign PolicyMagnificentBe ProudSubordinatesRebuildingNational InterestsEminence Book:As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations Source: As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations
“At least half of the popular fallacies about economics come from assuming that economic activity is a zero-sum game, in which what is gained by someone is lost by someone else. But transactions would not continue unless both sides gained, whether in international trade, employment, or renting an apartment.” GamesLostSidesHalfEconomicActivityEconomicsTradeAssumingInternationalEmploymentZeroApartmentBoth SidesFallacyTransactionsInternational TradeZero Sum Game Author:Thomas Sowell
“In the name of compassion, Obama advocates seemingly endless extensions of unemployment benefits because his economic theology holds that by paying people not to work, you will create jobs. It not only fails to factor in the obvious deterrent that extended benefits have on their recipients but also falsely assumes that transferring money from one pocket to the next generates more spending - by some mythical multiple factor, no less. Back on planet Earth, studies reveal that extending unemployment benefits results in more unemployment.” PeopleEarthJobsNextNamesResultsCompassionStudyFailingEconomicPlanetsBenefitsAssumingObviousSpendingEndlessTheologyFactorsPocketsMultipleUnemploymentExtensionsPlanet EarthExtendingDeterrentUnemployment Benefits Author:David Limbaugh
“Beware leverage in all its forms. Borrowers - individual, corporate, or government - should always match fund their liabilities against the duration of their assets. Borrowers must always remember that capital markets can be extremely fickle, and that it is never safe to assume a maturing loan can be rolled over. Even if you are unleveraged, the leverage employed by others can drive dramatic price and valuation swings; sudden unavailability of leverage in the economy may trigger an economic downturn.” IfsShouldMayGovernmentRememberFormIndividualEconomyEconomicSafeAssumingCorporateDramaticFundMatureAssetsSwingsEmployedLoanTriggersDurationFickleLiabilityValuationDownturnBorrowersEconomic Downturn Author:Seth Klarman