Quotes about downturn

A collection of quotes on the topic of downturn, economics, country, economy.

Quotes about downturn

“I had that trapped feeling, like some sort of a poor insect that you've put inside a downturned glass, and it tries to climb up the sides, and it can't, and it can't, and it can't.”

Cornell Woolrich (1903–1968) American author and screenwriter

Source: Blues of a Lifetime: The Autobiography of Cornell Woolrich

Feeling

“From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the current economic crisis caused by the housing bubble, every economic downturn suffered by this country over the past century can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial 'boom' followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts.”

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

Before the US House of Representatives, introducing the The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, H.R. 833. http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul504.html (9 February 2009) <br class="br">2000s, 2006-2009

Money, Suffering, Past, Housing

“I will recall once more Russia's most recent history.
Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself.
Individual savings were depreciated, and old ideals destroyed. Many institutions were disbanded or reformed carelessly. Terrorist intervention and the Khasavyurt capitulation that followed damaged the country's integrity. Oligarchic groups — possessing absolute control over information channels — served exclusively their own corporate interests. Mass poverty began to be seen as the norm. And all this was happening against the backdrop of a dramatic economic downturn, unstable finances, and the paralysis of the social sphere.
Many thought or seemed to think at the time that our young democracy was not a continuation of Russian statehood, but its ultimate collapse, the prolonged agony of the Soviet system.
But they were mistaken.
That was precisely the period when the significant developments took place in Russia. Our society was generating not only the energy of self-preservation, but also the will for a new and free life.”

Vladimir Putin (1952) President of Russia, former Prime Minister

Kremlin RU, http://kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2005/04/25/2031_type70029type82912_87086.shtml (25 April 2005) <br class="br">2000 - 2005

Life, Democracy, History, Thinking

“I have noticed in this economic downturn that more of my friends talk about God…”

John Townsend (1952) Canadian clinical psychologist and author

Where Is God (2009, Thomas Nelson publishers)

God

“Demagogues always do well in economic downturns.”

John Avlon (1973) American journalist

Glenn Beck and the History of Americas Worst Demagogues, September 2, 2010, The Daily Beast http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/02/glenn-beck-and-the-history-of-americas-worst-demagogues.html?cid=tag:all2,

“Creative destruction can apply to economic concepts as well. And this downturn offers an excellent opportunity to get rid of one that has long outlived its usefulness: gross domestic product. G. D. P. is one measure of national income, of how much wealth Americans make, and it’s a deeply foolish indicator of how the economy is doing. It ought to join buggy.”

Eric Zencey (1953–2019) American writer

Eric Zencey, in G.D.P. R.I.P. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/opinion/10zencey.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, The New York Times, 9 August 9, 2009

Wealth

“The best you can say about economic policy in this slump is that we have for the most part avoided a full repeat of the Great Depression. I say “for the most part” because we actually are seeing a Depression-level slump in Greece, and very bad slumps elsewhere in the European periphery. Still, the overall downturn hasn’t been a full 1930s replay. But all of that, I think, can be attributed to the financial rescue of 2008-2009 and automatic stabilizers. Deliberate policy to offset the crash in private spending has been largely absent.”

Paul Krugman (1953) American economist

"Economics in the Crisis" http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/economics-in-the-crisis/ (March 5, 2012) <br class="br">The Conscience of a Liberal blog

Thinking, Parting

“While it's impossible to be completely prepared for a downturn of this magnitude, we began priming ourselves for a weakening economy earlier last year. We have implemented strict cost cutting measures across all our operations. We have reduced headcount in individual businesses where appropriate and we've scaled back on capital expenditures. Even in plush times, we have never been a company that tolerates fat. So in times like these, we are better positioned to weather this cycle than our competitors.”

Rupert Murdoch (1931) Australian-American media mogul

About News Corp. 6.4 billion quarterly lost in 2008-09 <br class="br">Source: News Corporation F2Q09 (Qtr End 12/31/08) Earnings Call Transcript http://seekingalpha.com/article/118935-news-corporation-f2q09-qtr-end-12-31-08-earnings-call-transcript?page=-1

Business, Time, Weather

“The all-inclusiveness of the equilibrium concept in New Classicism warns against comparisons of EBCT and ABCT that ignore the radically different methodological contexts. For instance, the inevitable bust that figures importantly in ABCT cannot easily be translated into the language of EBCT. For the Austrians, "equilibrium bust" is a term at war with itself; for the New Classicists, "disequilibrium bust" can only mean an unexplainable downturn”

Roger Garrison (1944) American economist

cf. Lucas 1981, pp. 225 and 231
Page 95.
"New Classical and Old Austrian Economics", 1991

War

“The problem for China is political. China is held together by money, not ideology. When there is an economic downturn and the money stops rolling in, not only will the banking system spasm, but the entire fabric of Chinese society will shudder. Loyalty in China is either bought or coerced. Without available money, only coercion remains. Business slowdowns can generally lead to instability because they lead to business failure and unemployment. In a country where poverty is endemic and unemployment widespread, the added pressure of an economic downturn will result in political instability.”

George Friedman (1949) American businessman and political scientist

Source: The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century (2009), p. 96

Money, Failure, Business, Problem

“Because the activists usually cash out their holdings shortly after their demands are accepted or rejected, the question remains whether most of them are committed to companies’ future success. The risk is significant that their initiatives can weaken a company’s competitive position, to the detriment of long-term shareholders, and the high-leverage financing structures they often propose may put companies in jeopardy in the event of an economic downturn.”

Jay W. Lorsch (1932) American organizational theorist

Bill George and Jay W. Lorsch, " How to Outsmart Activist Investors https://hbr.org/2014/05/how-to-outsmart-activist-investors," in: Harvard Business Review, May 2014.

Question, Success, Future

“Thanks to the work of John Maynard Keynes and of Milton Friedman, we now have a better understanding of how governments can (at least in principle) reduce the severity of major economic downturns. Keynesian economics taught us that government spending can raise GDP and reduce unemployment.”

Martin Feldstein (1939–2019) American economist

"Economic Conditions and U.S. National Security in the 1930s and Today" (2009).

Understanding