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Economics Quotes

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Economics Quotes

“Economics is a theoretical science and as such abstains from any judgement of value. It is not its task to tell people what ends they should aim at. It is a science of the means to be applied for attainment of ends chosen, not, to be sure, a science of the choosing of ends. Ultimate decisions, the valuations and the choosing of ends, are beyond the scope of any science. Science never tells a man how he should act; it merely shows how a man must act if he wants to attain definite ends.”

People Ifs Men Want Should Mean Ends Shows Values Decision Economics Tasks Ultimate Aim Chosen Judgement Definite Scope Theoretical Attainment Valuation

Book:Human Action

Source: Human Action

“Marx, however imperfectly he worked out the details, set himself the task of discovering the law of motion of capitalism, and if there is any hope of progress in economics at all, it must be in using academic methods to solve the problems posed by Marx.”

Ifs Problem Law Progress Capitalism Economics Tasks Method Details Solve Academic Discovering Laws Of Motion

Book:Essay on Marxian Economics

Source: Essay on Marxian Economics

“If anything is evident about people who manage money, it is that the task attracts a very low level of talent, one that is protected in its highly imperfect profession by the mystery that is thought to enfold the subject of economics in general and of money in particular.”

People Ifs Levels Money Mystery Subjects Talent Particular Lows Economics Tasks Profession Manage Imperfect Protected Evident Low Level

Book:Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went

Source: Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”

Knows Men Littles Liberty Imagine Economic Design Economics Tasks Libertarian Curious Economist Central Planning Mixed Economy

Author:Friedrich August von Hayek

“The government can always rescue the markets or interfere with contract law whenever it deems convenient with little or no apparent cost. (Investors believe this now and, worse still, the government believes it as well. We are probably doomed to a lasting legacy of government tampering with financial markets and the economy, which is likely to create the mother of all moral hazards. The government is blissfully unaware of the wisdom of Friedrich Hayek: "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.")”

“This long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is long past the ocean is flat again.”

Ifs Long Running Past Science Death Easy Ocean Economics Tasks Seasons Affair Currents Storm Guides Useless Flats Long Runs Economist Mislead Current Affairs

Author:John Maynard Keynes

“No very deep knowledge of economics is usually needed for grasping the immediate effects of a measure; but the task of economics is to foretell the remoter effects, and so to allow us to avoid such acts as attempt to remedy a present ill by sowing the seeds of a much greater ill for the future.”

Liberty Greater Economic Effects Needed Economics Tasks Ill Seeds Remedy Very Deep Grasping Sowing

Book:The Theory of Money and Credit

Source: The Theory of Money and Credit

“The direction of all economic affairs is in the market society a task of the entrepreneurs. Theirs is the control of production. They are at the helm and steer the ship. A superficial observer would believe that they are supreme. But they are not. They are bound to obey unconditionally the captain's orders.”

“Economic controversy is generally a thankless task. You cannot hope to make any impression on your opponent. Yet he is the only reader on whose interest you can count.”

Interest Economic Reader Economics Tasks Impression Opponents Controversy Thankless

Author:Francis Ysidro Edgeworth

“Probably the only people left who think that economics deserves a Nobel Prize are economists. It confirms their conceit that they're doing 'science' rather than the less tidy task of observing the world and trying to make sense of it. This, after all, is done by mere historians, political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, and (heaven forbid) even journalists. Economists are loath to admit that they belong in such raffish company.”

“The intellectual's hostility to the businessman presents no mystery, as the two have, by function, wholly different standards. While the businessman's motto is the customer is always right, the intellectual's task is to preserve his perceived standards against the weight of popular opinion.”

Two Different Philosophy Political Opinion Mystery Intellectual Standards Economics Tasks Weight Function Customers Preserves Businessman Motto Hostility Popular Opinion

Author:Bertrand de Jouvenel

“Business is the force of change. Business is essential to solving the climate crisis, because this is what business is best at: innovating, changing, addressing risks, searching for opportunities. There is no more vital task”

Opportunity Force Business Risk Essentials Economics Tasks Management Crisis Climate

Author:Richard Branson