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Economics Quotes

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Economics Quotes

“The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is that kind of a system.”

Kind Philosophy Problem Political Social Liberty Capitalism Economics Organization Greed Harm Libertarian Arrangements Free Market Capitalism Social Organization

Book:Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's Protest

Source: Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's Protest

“Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.”

Want Change Business Economy Economics Organization Management Meetings Committees Indispensable Business Meeting

Book:Ambassador's Journal

Source: Ambassador's Journal

“The mischievous idea that all public needs should be satisfied by compulsory organization and that all the means that individuals are willing to devote to pubic purposes should be under the control of government, is wholly alien to the basic principles of a free society.”

Needs Should Mean Ideas Government Purpose Individual Principles Willing Economics Organization Satisfied Aliens Free Society Basic Principles Compulsory Mischievous

Author:Friedrich August von Hayek

“We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combinations [that is, unions or colluding organizations] of masters, though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual price.”

World Has Beens Said Imagine Subjects Masters Economics Labor Organization Accounts Raises Constant Unions Ignorant Combination Uniforms Wages Workmen Tacit Wealth Of Nations

Author:Adam Smith

“The fundamental flaw in Social Security and Medicare is that they violate the 'welfare principle' in economics. The welfare principle forms the fundamental basis of all charitable work in churches and other private organizations: assist those who need help, and equally important, don't assist individuals who can take care of themselves.”

“The argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason can employ, but an argument against all exclusive, privileged, monopolistic organization, against the use of coercion to prevent others from doing better.”

Humans Reason Use Powerful Liberty Economic Economics Argument Tools Organization Most Powerful Privileged Exclusive Coercion Human Reason

Author:Friedrich August von Hayek

“People have a hard time accepting free-market economics for the same reason they have a hard time accepting evolution: it is counterintuitive. Life looks intelligently designed, so our natural inclination is to infer that there must be an intelligent designer--a God. Similarly, the economy looks designed, so our natural inclination is to infer that we need a designer--a government. In fact, emergence and complexity theory explains how the principles of self-organization and emergence cause complex systems to arise from simple systems without a top-down designer.”

“If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there would be enough for everybody, and no unemployment — assuming a certain very moderate amount of sensible organization. This idea shocks the well-to-do, because they are convinced that the poor would not know how to use so much leisure.”

“But we assure the socialists that we repudiate only forced organization, not natural organization. We repudiate the forms of association that are forced upon us, not free association. We repudiate forced fraternity, not true fraternity. We repudiate the artificial unity that does nothing more than deprive persons of individual responsibility. We do not repudiate the natural unity of mankind under Providence.”

Persons Doe Form Individual Natural Responsibility Liberty Economic Mankind Economics Organization Unity Association Artificial Providence Fraternity Individual Responsibility

Author:Frederic Bastiat

“No individual or private group or private organization has the legal power to initiate the use of physical force against other individuals or groups and to compel them to act against their own voluntary choice. Only a government holds that power. The nature of governmental action is: coercive action. The nature of political power is: the power to force obedience under threat of physical injury-the threat of property expropriation, imprisonment, or death.”

Source: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

“We must first note that economic factors are taken into account in a world in which ignorance, prejudice, and mental confusion, encouraged rather than dispelled by the political organization, exert a strong influence on policy making.”

World Firsts Political Strong Taken Influence Economic Policy Ignorance Economics Organization Accounts Prejudice Notes Confusion Factors Policy Making

Author:Ronald Coase

“We see community organizations as major service providers and economic drivers rather than as recipients or distributors of charity, and coordinators of volunteers. Today they constitute what's referred to as 'the social economy'.”

Today Social Community Economy Economic Majors Economics Organization Charity Drivers Philanthropy Volunteer Providers Distributors Service Providers Coordinator

Author:Julia Gillard

“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.”

“...how engaged are your employees right now? You may consider such a question impossible to answer, but the truth is, you need to know this if you want a more profitable, ethical organization, as everyone must share the same values to make the changes genuine”

Ifs Knows Want Needs May Values Answers Business Impossible Share Right Now Truth Is Economics Organization Management Genuine Engaged Employee Ethical Profitable

Author:Jim Craig

“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.”