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Economics Quotes

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Economics Quotes

“In an information economy, entrepreneurs master the science of information in order to overcome the laws of the purely physical sciences. They can succeed because of the surprising power of the laws of information, which are conducive to human creativity. The central concept of information theory is a measure of freedom of choice. The principle of matter, on the other hand, is not liberty but limitation- it has weight and occupies space.”

Source: Knowledge and Power: The Information Theory of Capitalism and How it is Revolutionizing our World

“In economics, one of the most important concepts is 'opportunity cost' - the idea that once you spend your money on something, you can't spend it again on something else.”

Important Ideas Opportunity Cost Concepts Economics Opportunity Cost

Author:Malcolm Turnbull

“It's a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature and of the concepts of liberty, freedom, and self-determination. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. He (Obama) believes that the pie is fixed and that he needs to more equitably divide up the slices.”

Needs Believe Humans Self Liberty Human Nature Concepts Determination Economics Fundamentals Fixed Divides Self Determination Pie Misunderstanding

Author:Paul Ryan

“An idea is only an idea if it causes unease, debate and reflection. By that standard, Thomas Homer-Dixon's concept of an 'ingenuity gap' is truly a new idea. I can think of no other new concept that so fully condenses all of the challenges we face as a human civilization than the 'ingenuity gap'. Homer-Dixon has found a way to unite all of our concerns about economics, war, population growth, complexity, etc. under a single heading. He is one of an elite group of academics who can write for a mass audience.”

“Utility is a metaphysical concept of impregnable circularity; utility is the quality in commodities that makes individuals want to buy them, and the fact that individuals want to buy commodities shows that they have utility.”

Want Facts Shows Individual Quality Concepts Economics Commodity Metaphysical Utility Circularity

Book:Economic philosophy

Source: Economic philosophy

“Economics was like psychology, a pseudoscience trying to hide that fact with intense theoretical hyperelaboration. And gross domestic product was one of those unfortunate measurement concepts, like inches or the British thermal unit, that ought to have been retired long before.”

Source: Blue Mars

“The trickle-down theory of economics has it that it's good for rich people to get even richer because some of their wealth will trickle own, through their no doubt lavish spending, upon those who stand below them on the economic ladder. Notice that the metaphor is not that of a gushing waterfall but of a leaking tap: even the most optimistic endorsers of this concept do not picture very much real flow, as their language reveals" pg. 102.”

People Real Language Wealth Rich Doubt Economic Theory Concepts Economics Flow Metaphor Spending Optimistic No Doubt Ladders Rich People Waterfalls Trickle Down

Author:Margaret Atwood

“That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.”

Earth Community Land Respect Ethics Concepts Economics Ecology Extensions

Book:Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology: (Library of America #238)

Source: Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology: (Library of America #238)

“There can be no such thing as 'fairness in taxation.' Taxation is nothing but organized theft, and the concept of a 'fair tax' is therefore every bit as absurd as that of 'fair theft.'”

Bits Liberty Economic Taxes Concepts Fairs Economics Absurd Organized Fairness Taxation Theft

Author:Murray Rothbard

“The danger of tautological propositions is considerable in discussions of the concept of normal profits. Because supernormal profits seem to invite newcomers to an industry and sub-normal profits seem to drive away those who are in an industry, some writers are inclined to define normal profits as the earnings of the fixed resources in an industry which neither grows nor declines in size or number of firms. It should be clear that such a definition is useless: it muddles together attractiveness and actual afflux, desirbility of entry and ease of entry, zero profits and monopoly rents.”

“Liberalism is, in fact, the ideology of the capitalist revolution that prodigiously raised the living standards of the mass of people; a doctrine gradually elaborated over several centuries, which offered a new concept of social order, encompassing freedom in the only form suited to the modern world. Step by step, in practice and theory, the various sectors of human activity were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of coercive authority and given over to the voluntary action of self-regulating society.”

“If sustainability is going to take hold in the corporate sector in a big way - and we need it to - it will be when it produces big profits and faster growth. It won't happen because of an optional executive commitment to an abstract concept. It will happen because sustainability is a great business strategy. And it is”

“The concept of loss aversion is certainly the most significant contribution of psychology to behavioral economics.”

Loss Psychology Concepts Economics Significant Contribution Aversion Behavioral Economics

Book:Thinking, Fast and Slow

Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow

“The concept of a general equilibrium has no relevance to the real world (in other words, classical economics is an exercise in futility).”

World Real Exercise Concepts Economics Investing Real World Relevance Equilibrium Futility

Book:The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market

Source: The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market

“To be sure, mathematics can be extended to any branch of knowledge, including economics, provided the concepts are so clearly defined as to permit accurate symbolic representation. That is only another way of saying that in some branches of discourse it is desirable to know what you are talking about.”

Knows Way Talking Knowledge Concepts Economics Mathematics Including Math Defined Mathematical Branches Permit Accurate Representation Discourse Desirable Another Way Symbolic

Book:The World of Mathematics

Source: The World of Mathematics