An economist’s guess is liable to be as good as anybody else’s.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Economics and politics are the governing powers of life today, and that’s why everything is so screwy.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Author, Mythologist
Economic progress, in capitalist society, means turmoil.
—Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) Austrian-American Political Economist, Sociologist
With the exception only of the period of the gold standard, practically all governments of history have used their exclusive power to issue money to defraud and plunder the people.
—Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992) British Economist, Social Philosopher
But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Few are sufficiently sensible of the importance of that economy in reading which selects, almost exclusively, the very first order of books. Why, except for some special reason, read an inferior book, at the very time you might be reading one of the highest order?
—John W. Foster
We are enjoying sluggish times and not enjoying them very much.
—George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) American Republican Statesman, 41st President
I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
In a society of little economic development, universal inactivity accompanies universal poverty. You survive not by struggling against nature, or by increasing production, or by relentless labor; instead you survive by expending as little energy as possible, by striving constantly to achieve a state of immobility.
—Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932–2007) Polish Journalist
If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.
—John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English Economist
Commerce has set the mark of selfishness, the signet of its all-enslaving power, upon a shining ore, and called it gold: before whose image bow the vulgar great, the vainly rich, the miserable proud, the mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings, and with blind feelings reverence the power that grinds them to the dust of misery.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
I learned more about economics from one South Dakota dust storm than I did in all my years in college.
—Hubert Humphrey (1911–78) American Head of State, Politician
An economist is someone who knows more about money than the people who have it.
—Unknown
The science hangs like a gathering fog in a valley, a fog which begins nowhere and goes nowhere, an incidental, unmeaning inconvenience to passers-by.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
It seems to be a law in American life that whatever enriches us anywhere except in the wallet inevitably becomes uneconomic.
—Russell Baker (1925–2019) American Journalist, Humorist, Television Host
In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
There can be economy only where there is efficiency.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
If all the economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
How great, my friends, is the virtue of living upon a little!
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
People do not understand what a great revenue economy is.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
There is much of economic theory which is pursued for no better reason than its intellectual attraction; it is a good game. We have no reason to be ashamed of that, since the same would hold for many branches of mathematics.
—John Hicks (1904–89) English Economist
The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. If the world is lucky enough to enjoy peace, it may even one day make the discovery, to the horror of doctrinaire free-enterprisers and doctrinaire planners alike, that what is called capitalism and what is called socialism are both capable of working quite well.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
The rate of interest acts as a link between income-value and capital-value
—Irving Fisher (1867–1947) American Economist, Statistician
Call a thing immoral or ugly, soul-destroying or a degradation of man, a peril to the peace of the world or to the well-being of future generations; as long as you have not shown it to be “uneconomic” you have not really questioned its right to exist, grow, and prosper.
—E. F. Schumacher (1911–77) British Economist, Statistician
We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries.
—Ezra Pound (1885-1972) American Poet, Translator, Critic
Be thrifty, but not covetous.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Leave a Reply