“Except for specialists such as market analysts and the like, economists as a professional group have had surprisingly little influence on businessman.”

Source: Business Leadership in the Large Corporation (1945), p. 259, footnote 26

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Robert Aaron Gordon12

American economist 1908–1978

George Stigler (1911–1991) American economist

"The Effect of Government on Economic Efficiency." 1988

“All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan and the musician.”

Glenn T. Seaborg (1912–1999) American scientist

Statement upon being appointed as UC Berkeley chancellor in 1958, as quoted Biographical Memoirs (2000) edited by Darleane C. Hoffman, p, 252 
Context: There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan and the musician.

“In the early days of the computer revolution computer designers and numerical analysts worked closely together and indeed were often the same people. Now there is a regrettable tendency for numerical analysts to opt out of any responsibility for the design of the arithmetic facilities and a failure to influence the more basic features of software. It is often said that the use of computers for scientific work represents a small part of the market and numerical analysts have resigned themselves to accepting facilities "designed" for other purposes and making the best of them. […] One of the main virtues of an electronic computer from the point of view of the numerical analyst is its ability to "do arithmetic fast."”

James H. Wilkinson (1919–1986) English mathematician

Need the arithmetic be so bad!
Some Comments from a Numerical Analyst (1971)

“Even today — in blithe disregard to his actual philosophy — Smith is generally regarded as a conservative economist, whereas in fact, he is more avowedly hostile to the motives of businessman than most New Deal economists.”

Robert L. Heilbroner book The Worldly Philosophers

Source: The Worldly Philosophers (1953), Chapter III, Adam Smith, p. 62

“Economists have the least influence on policy where they know the most and are most agreed; they have the most influence on policy where they know the least and disagree most vehemently.”

Alan Blinder (1945) economist

Hard Heads, Soft Hearts: Tough-Minded Economics for a Just Society (1987)

“John Maynard Keynes may have had more influence on policy makers, Milton Friedman on citizens, Kenneth Arrow on economic theory, but Samuelson had more influence on the way economics is done today, and the purposes to which it is put, than any other economist of the twentieth century.”

David Warsh (1944) American journalist

David Warsh, "The Enormous Black Box" http://www.economicprincipals.com/issues/2009.12.13/841.html (2009)

“It is a misfortune of the times that all of us must needs be amateur economists-including, and perhaps especially, the professionals.”

Benjamin Graham (1894–1976) American investor

Source: World Commodities and World Currencies (1944), Chapter X, Commodity Unit Stabilization, p. 109

“Every war results from the struggle for markets and spheres of influence, and every war is sold to the public by professional liars and totally sincere religious maniacs, as a Holy Crusade to save God and Goodness from Satan and Evil.”

Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) American author and polymath

Cosmic Trigger II : Down to Earth (1991)

“Except for times Fred worked with real professional dancers like Cyd Charisse, it was a twenty five year war.”

Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter

Hermes Pan, Astaire's principal choreographic collaborator, quoted in Davidson, Bill. The Real and the Unreal. New York: Harper and Bros., 1961. p. 186. (M).

“If I really treated business like a businessman, I wouldn’t have done what I have done — opposing China. No businessman in their right mind would do this, because you know that there will be repercussions.”

Jimmy Lai (1948) Hong Kong businessman

January 11, 2015 For Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s Rebellious Tycoon, Next Battle May Be in Court https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/business/media/for-jimmy-lai-hong-kongs-rebellious-tycoon-next-battle-may-be-in-court.html

“Except for specialists such as market analysts and the like, economists as a professional group have had surprisingly little influence on businessman.”

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Robert Aaron Gordon12

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