“England was killed by an idea: the idea that the weak, indolent and profligate must be supported by the strong, industrious, and frugal – to the degree that tax-consumers will have a living standard comparable to that of taxpayers; the idea that government exists for the purpose of plundering those who work to give the product of their labor to those who do not work. The economic and social cannibalism produced by this communist-socialist idea will destroy any society which adopts it and clings to it as a basic principle – ANY society.” GivingIdeasGovernmentPurposeStrongSocialPrinciplesEconomicProductsTaxesDegreesStandardsLaborWeakEnglandConsumersCommunistSocialistTaxpayersIndustriousBasic PrinciplesCannibalismFrugal Author:Dan Smoot
“Economists use the word consume to mean "utilize economic goods," but the Shorter Oxford Dictionary's definition is more appropriate to ecologists: "To make away with or destroy; to waste or to squander; to use up." The economies that cater to the global consumer society are responsible for the lion's share of the damage that humans have inflicted on common global resources.” HumansMeanUseCommonEconomyShareEconomicWasteResourcesResponsibleDefinitionsConsumersDamageAppropriateGoodsLionsConsumerismEconomistDictionaryOverconsumptionOxford Author:Alan Thein Durning
“Since man does not create physical matter, those who handle material objects in the production process are not producers in that sense. Economic benefits result from the transformation of matter in form, location, or availability (intellectually or temporally). It is these transformations that create economic benefits valued by consumers, and whoever arranges such transformations contributes to the value of things, whether his hands actually come into contact with physical objects or not.” MenDoeMatterHandsFormValuesProcessResultsEconomicObjectsMaterialsBenefitsTransformationProductionsHandleContactProducersConsumersLocationAvailability Author:Thomas Sowell
“Together with the social responsibility of businesses, there is also the social responsibility of consumers. Every person ought to have the awareness that 'purchasing is always a moral-and not simply an economic-act.” PersonsTogetherSocialResponsibilityMoralEconomicAwarenessOughtConsumersSocial ResponsibilityPurchasing Author:Pope Francis
“What vitiates entirely the socialists economic critique of capitalism is their failure to grasp the sovereignty of the consumers in the market economy.” EconomyEconomicCapitalismConsumersSovereigntyCritiqueMarket Economy Author:Ludwig von Mises
“All I am asking is that we follow the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This is fundamentally a moral issue, not an economic issue. Given what we know now, it is simply unethical to impose risk of grave damage on future generations just so that we can have a few more consumer products today.” KnowsTodayGivenGrowthMoralIssuesRiskGenerationsEconomicProductsAskingGravesGoldenConsumersDamageConsumptionFuture GenerationGolden RuleDo Unto OthersMoral IssuesUnethicalEconomic Issues Author:Ken Caldeira
“High gas prices are eating away at consumers disposal income and could lead to a further economic downturn, especially for those whose livelihood depend on gasoline and diesel fuel.” EconomicDependsEatingIncomeConsumersFuelGasLivelihoodGasolineDieselGas PricesDownturnEconomic DownturnDiesel Fuel Author:Major Owens
“Studios felt like Blu-ray was going to be the next panacea, and so they dumped the prices (of traditional DVDs) and devalued the product. That's a misreading of consumer behavior as well as a misreading of the economic environment.” WellsNextFeltEnvironmentEconomicProductsBehaviorStudiosTraditionalConsumersRaysDvdsDumpedPanaceaMisreading Author:Bill Mechanic
“[The consumer is] the supreme mover of economic order... for whom all goods are made and towards whom all economic activity is directed.” MadeOrderEconomicActivitySupremeConsumersGoodsEconomic Order Author:Kenneth E. Boulding
“If the life-supporting ecosystems of the planet are to survive for future generations, the consumer society will have to dramatically curtail its use of resources - partly by shifting to high-quality, low-input durable goods and partly by seeking fulfillment through leisure, human relationships, and other nonmaterial avenues. We in the consumer society will have to live a technologically sophisticated version of the life-style currently practiced lower on the economic ladder.” IfsHumansUseQualityGenerationsEconomicStylePlanetsLowsResourcesEnvironmentalSeekingVersionsConsumersFulfillmentGoodsLeisureSustainabilitySophisticatedLaddersShiftingFuture GenerationAvenuesHuman RelationsEcosystemsHuman RelationshipsInputHigh QualityLife Style Author:Alan Thein Durning
“Meaningful rules in the consumer credit market can accelerate economic recovery. Rules would increase consumer confidence and, more importantly, weed out all the tricks and traps that sap families of billions of dollars annually.” EconomicIncreaseDollarsCreditBillionsMeaningfulTricksRecoveryConsumersWeedTrapsSapAccelerateEconomic RecoveryConsumer Confidence Author:Elizabeth Warren
“Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body - the producers and consumers themselves.” BodyActionBusinessEconomicDepressionWoundsProducersCellsConsumersExecutivesHealedEconomic Depression Book:Herbert Hoover, 1874-1964; chronology-documents-bibliographical aids Source: Herbert Hoover, 1874-1964; chronology-documents-bibliographical aids
“When government 'creates jobs' by taking money from the private sector and 'investing' in favored projects, it is not truly productive activity. Rather, the government has preempted the economic process, forbidding it to serve consumers so that it can instead serve the objectives of politicians and bureaucrats.” GovernmentJobsProcessEconomicPoliticianActivityProjectsInvestingObjectivesConsumersProductivePrivate SectorBureaucrats Author:Sheldon Richman
“One of the most important features of our economic resources is their scarcity: land, labor, and capital goods factors are all scarce, and may all be put to various possible uses. The free market uses them 'productively' because the producers are guided, on the market, to produce what the consumers most need: automobiles, for example, rather than buggies.” NeedsMayImportantUseEconomicLandExampleProduceResourcesLaborVariousFactorsProducersConsumersFeaturesGoodsFree MarketAutomobileScarceScarcityLabor And CapitalEconomic Resources Author:Murray Rothbard
“Government interference with the economic process represents a substitution of political for consumer objectives.” GovernmentPoliticalProcessEconomicObjectivesConsumersInterferenceSubstitution Author:Sheldon Richman
“Here we must distinguish between society and culture. A society can be interested in a man or woman only as a political or economic entity; a culture is interested in more. Culture means literally "to cultivate" or "to care for." Cultures care for their peoples as natural, spiritual beings and not simply as workers or consumers.” MenMeanCareSpiritualPoliticalCultureNaturalEconomicWorkersConsumersEntitySpiritual BeingsSociety And Culture Author:Laurence Boldt