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Economics Quotes

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Economics Quotes

“Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.”

Government Form Economic Economics Employment Economist Economy And Economics Supply Side Economics Home Economics Studying Economics

Author:John Kenneth Galbraith

“Broadly speaking, Keynesianism means that the government has a specific responsibility for the behavior of the economy, that it doesn't work on its own autonomous course, but the government, when there's a recession, compensates by employment, by expansion of purchasing power, and in boom times corrects by being a restraining force. But it controls the great flow of demand into the economy, what since Keynesian times has been the flow of aggregate demand. That was the basic idea of Keynes so far as one can put it in a couple of sentences.”

“Capitalism with near-full employment was an impressive spectacle. But a growth in wealth is not at all the same thing as reducing poverty. A universal paean was raised in praise of growth. Growth was going to solve all problems. No need to bother about poverty. Growth will lift up the bottom and poverty will disappear without any need to pay attention to it. The economists, who should have known better, fell in with the same cry.”

Source: Contributions to Modern Economics

“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.”

Games Lost Sides Half Economic Activity Economics Trade Assuming International Employment Zero Apartment Both Sides Fallacy Transactions International Trade Zero Sum Game

Author:Thomas Sowell

“The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.”

Real Discipline Losing Economics Customers Employment Fraud Hype Workmen Negligence

Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

“Keynes was a great economist. In every discipline, progress comes from people who make hypotheses, most of which turn out to be wrong, but all of which ultimately point to the right answer. Now Keynes, in 'The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money,' set forth a hypothesis which was a beautiful one, and it really altered the shape of economics. But it turned out that it was a wrong hypothesis. That doesn't mean that he wasn't a great man!”

People Men Mean Beautiful Turns Interest Answers Progress Theory Discipline Shapes Economics Employment Great Men Economist Hypothesis Altered Right Answers Keynes

Author:Milton Friedman

“The inscrutability [of economics] is perhaps not unintentional. It gives endless employment to dialecticians who otherwise might become public charges or, at very worst, swindlers and tricksters.”

Giving Might Worst Economics Endless Employment Tricksters Swindlers

Author:Jack Vance

“We cannot hope to achieve full employment and sustain it until we have mastered inflation.”

Achieve Economics Employment Inflation

Author:Denis Healey

“Raising the minimum wage and lowering the barriers to union organization would carry a trade-off - higher unemployment. A better idea is to have the government subsidize low-wage employment. The earned-income tax credit for low-income workers - which has been the object of proposed cuts by both President Clinton and congressional Republicans - has been a positive step in this direction.”

“It should be possible to emphasize to students that the level of employment is a macroeconomic issue, depending in the short run on aggregate demand and depending in the long run on the natural rate of unemployment, with microeconomic policies like tariffs having little net effect. Trade policy should be debated in terms of its impact on efficiency, not in terms of phoney numbers about jobs created or lost.”

“Interest rates are going to go up because employment is going to go up. If employment goes up, then our apartments get filled. And if employment goes up, our office buildings get filled. The reality is that increased economic activity combined with increased interest rates is basically bullish for real estate.”

Ifs Real Reality Interest Economy Economic Building Activity Office Economics Filled Rate Employment Employee Apartment Estates Interest Rate Office Buildings Bullish

Author:Sam Zell

“The idea [the government's 'You Win' campaign] is that instead of young people in Nigeria waiting to get employment, they should create their own jobs and employ their peers and employ other people.”

People Should Ideas Government Jobs Young Winning Waiting Economics Campaigns Employment Peers Nigeria

Author:Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

“I think the team that successfully puts together an economic and social policy framework for global full employment in decent working conditions based on local development, that would command the support of all stakeholders and all international organizations concerned, should be awarded the [Nobel] prize. I am sure they would get it not just for economics, but also for peace in the world.”