Welcome to our curated collection of insightful quotes by economists. Throughout history, economists have offered profound observations and analyses on various aspects of society, from the intricacies of market dynamics to the complexities of human behavior in the realm of finance. These quotes encapsulate the wisdom, wit, and sometimes controversy that have defined the discipline of economics.
From renowned figures like Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes to modern thinkers such as Milton Friedman and Amartya Sen, the viewpoints represented here span diverse economic ideologies and perspectives. Whether you’re a seasoned economist, a student of the subject, or simply someone with a curiosity about how economies function, you’ll find inspiration and thought-provoking insights within these quotes. They offer valuable perspectives on topics ranging from wealth and inequality to government intervention and globalization.
It’s that evil twin part of me that always comes out at the absolute wrong political moment, like a demon possessing my soul; it exhibits itself as an arrogance or disdain or obnoxiousness or meanness or anger or pettiness – all traits that are lethal in politics. Peter Navarro
Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure. Thorstein Veblen
Under capitalism each individual engages in economic planning. George Reisman
The facility of obtaining food is beneficial in two ways to the owners of capital, it at the same time raises profits and increases the amount of consumable commodities. David Ricardo
One finds limits by pushing them. Herbert A. Simon
I grew up in a family in which political issues were often discussed, and debated intensely. Joseph Stiglitz
Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes. E. F. Schumacher
No amount of debt restructuring, even debt forgiveness, will help the Greeks achieve real prosperity. What they need is not short-term relief but, rather, a long-term cure. Edmund Phelps
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
E-commerce is a powerful means to connect the unconnected to global trade. Arancha Gonzalez
Look around, and you see everywhere the exertions and acts of individuals restricted, regulated, or promoted, on the principle of the common welfare. Friedrich List
Diversifying sufficiently among uncorrelated risks can reduce portfolio risk toward zero. But financial engineers should know that’s not true of a portfolio of correlated risks. Harry Markowitz
Development is an endurance exercise with incremental improvements. Sri Mulyani Indrawati
The law of property determines who owns something, but the market determines how it will be used. Ronald Coase
The benefits from a world currency would be enormous. Robert Mundell
Increased government spending can provide a temporary stimulus to demand and output but in the longer run higher levels of government spending crowd out private investment or require higher taxes that weaken growth by reducing incentives to save, invest, innovate, and work. Martin Feldstein
I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments. Friedrich August von Hayek
In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. Alan Greenspan
When deeds speak, words are nothing. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
What we have ignored is what citizens can do and the importance of real involvement of the people involved – versus just having somebody in Washington make a rule. Elinor Ostrom
He flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions. Stephen Leacock
Finance is not merely about making money. It’s about achieving our deep goals and protecting the fruits of our labor. It’s about stewardship and, therefore, about achieving the good society. Robert J. Shiller
The faith that anyone could move from rags to riches – with enough guts and gumption, hard work and nose to the grindstone – was once at the core of the American Dream. Robert Reich
Less emphasis on inventories, I think, may tend to dampen business cycles, because business cycles are typically in the grasp of inventory cycles and heavy industry cycles. Paul A. Volcker
If the government can manage to collect and release personal information in a secure and useful way, so can private companies, which will empower consumers to become better shoppers. Richard Thaler
Power is the chance to impose your will within a social context, even when opposed and regardless of the integrity of that chance. Max Weber
In society, liberty for one may mean the suppression of liberty for others. Gunnar Myrdal
International cooperation is vital to keeping our globe safe, commerce flowing, and our planet habitable. Angus Deaton
The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations. Adam Smith
My premise is not to tax to destroy the wealth of the wealthy; it’s to increase the wealth of the bottom and the middle class. Thomas Piketty
So human capital makes ideas, and ideas help make human capital. But still, they’re conceptually distinct. Paul Romer
The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income as defined by the GDP. Simon Kuznets
The price of every thing rises and falls from time to time and place to place; and with every such change the purchasing power of money changes so far as that thing goes. Alfred Marshall
Celebrate the excitement of trying build something new and wonderful. Abhijit Banerjee
Making money is a happiness. And that’s a great incentive. Making other people happy is a super-happiness. Muhammad Yunus
For me, socialism has always been about liberty and solidarity, but also about responsibility. Jacques Delors
I, Lawrence Klein, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, as were my elder brother and younger sister. Lawrence R. Klein
I think about issues. I use my economic training to devise solutions. Gita Gopinath
The invention of the printing press was one of the most important events in human history. Ha-Joon Chang
We have fluctuations all the time, business cycles, and they come about in various ways, but normally what sets them off is some reduction in the willingness of our population, our businesses, and foreigners to buy. Robert Solow
There is one good thing about Marx: he was not a Keynesian. Murray Rothbard
One in four sub-Saharan Africans is Nigerian, and it has 140 million dynamic people – chaotic people – but very interesting people. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Economics is everywhere, and understanding economics can help you make better decisions and lead a happier life. Tyler Cowen
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. Thomas Sowell
Strong government doesn’t mean simply military power or an efficient intelligence apparatus. Instead, it should mean effective, fair administration – in other words, ‘good governance.’ Raghuram Rajan
Change can be frightening, and the temptation is often to resist it. But change almost always provides opportunities – to learn new things, to rethink tired processes, and to improve the way we work. Klaus Schwab
The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Thomas Malthus
Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. Frederic Bastiat
In an efficient market, at any point in time, the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value. Eugene Fama
A constant stream of ‘free’ money is a perfect way to keep an inefficient or simply bad government in power. As aid flows in, there is nothing more for the government to do – it doesn’t need to raise taxes, and as long as it pays the army, it doesn’t have to take account of its disgruntled citizens. Dambisa Moyo
Bureaucracy is not an obstacle to democracy but an inevitable complement to it. Joseph A. Schumpeter
It was in the 1960s that I began the detailed study of public regulation. George Stigler
Many foolish people believe that nuclear war cannot happen, because there can be no winner. However, the American war planners, who elevated U.S. nuclear weapons from a retaliatory role to a pre-emptive first strike function, obviously do not agree that nuclear war cannot be won. Paul Craig Roberts
The worst evils which mankind has ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments. Ludwig von Mises
Part of me always wanted to do something useful for the world. It came from my mother. She is a paediatrician and she was active in a small NGO for the child victims of war. Esther Duflo
The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones. John Maynard Keynes
Debt is one person’s liability, but another person’s asset. Paul Krugman
If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand. Milton Friedman
Globalization was a deep trend pushed by technology and right ideas, as much as anything else. Jeffrey Sachs
Economics is not an exact science. It’s a combination of an art and elements of science. And that’s almost the first and last lesson to be learned about economics: that in my judgment, we are not converging toward exactitude, but we’re improving our data bases and our ways of reasoning about them. Paul Samuelson
