Joan Robinson: Economics

Joan Robinson was English economist. Explore interesting quotes on economics.

Joan Robinson: 92 quotes4 likes

“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.”

Source: Contributions to Modern Economics (1978), Chapter 7, Marx, Marshall and Keynes, p. 75

“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.”

Joan Robinson book An Essay on Marxian Economics

Source: An Essay on Marxian Economics (Second Edition) (1966), Chapter XI, Dynamic Analysis, p. 95

“The orthodox doctrines of economics which were dominant in the last quarter of the nineteenth century had a clear message. They supported laisser faire, free trade, the gold standard, and the universally advantageous effects of the pursuit of profit by competitive private enterprise.”

Introduction, p. vii
Economic Heresies (1971)

“The fundamental differences between Marxian and traditional orthodox economics are, first, that the orthodox economists accept the capitalist system as part of the eternal order of Nature, while Marx regards it as a passing phase in the transition from the feudal economy of the past to the socialist economy of the future.”

Joan Robinson book An Essay on Marxian Economics

Source: An Essay on Marxian Economics (Second Edition) (1966), Chapter I, Introduction, p. 1

“When I came up to Cambridge (in October 1921) to read economics, I did not have much idea of what it was about.”

Reminiscences, p. ix
Contributions to Modern Economics (1978)

“There is no such thing as a normal period of history. Normality is a fiction of economic textbooks.”

Source: Contributions to Modern Economics (1978), Chapter 1, The Second Crisis of Economic Theory, p. 3

“The bastard Keynesian doctrine, evolved in the United States, invaded the economic faculties of the world, floating on the wings of the almighty dollar.”

Source: Contributions to Modern Economics (1978), Chapter 23, What Has Become of Employment Policy?, p. 256