Quotes about economics
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Ho Iat Seng photo

“It was a hard decision (to close casinos in Macau for two weeks after a hotel worker was infected by COVID-19), but we (Government of Macau) must make it for the health of Macau residents. Macau can still withstand economic losses.”

Ho Iat Seng (1957) Chief Executive of Macau

Ho Iat Seng (2020) cited in " Coronavirus: casinos to close in Macau for at least two weeks after hotel worker infected https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3048904/coronavirus-casinos-close-macau-least-two-weeks" on South China Morning Post, 4 February 2020.

William Blum photo
Noam Chomsky photo

“As the most powerful state, the U.S. makes its own laws, using force and conducting economic warfare at will. It also threatens sanctions against countries that do not abide by its conveniently flexible notions of "free trade."”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

In one important case, Washington has employed such threats with great effectiveness (and GATT approval) to force open Asian markets for U.S. tobacco exports and advertising, aimed primarily at the growing markets of women and children. The U.S. Agriculture Department has provided grants to tobacco firms to promote smoking overseas. Asian countries have attempted to conduct educational anti-smoking campaigns, but they are overwhelmed by the miracles of the market, reinforced by U.S. state power through the sanctions threat. Philip Morris, with an advertising and promotion budget of close to $9 billion in 1992, became China's largest advertiser. The effect of Reaganite sanction threats was to increase advertising and promotion of cigarette smoking (particularly U.S. brands) quite sharply in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, along with the use of these lethal substances. In South Korea, for example, the rate of growth in smoking more than tripled when markets for U.S. lethal drugs were opened in 1988. The Bush Administration extended the threats to Thailand, at exactly the same time that the "war on drugs" was declared; the media were kind enough to overlook the coincidence, even suppressing the outraged denunciations by the very conservative Surgeon-General. Oxford University epidemiologist Richard Peto estimates that among Chinese children under 20 today, 50 million will die of cigarette-related diseases, an achievement that ranks high even by 20th century standards.

In Tony Evans (ed.), Human Rights Fifty Years on: A Reappraisal, 1997 https://chomsky.info/199811__/
Quotes 1990s, 1995–1999

Eduard Bernstein photo
Karl Kautsky photo
Ralph Nader photo
Shaun Chamberlin photo

“I always thought economics wasn’t the be-all and end-all of life. Now I realise it might be the end-all.”

Chamberlin's @DarkOptimism account (2018) https://twitter.com/DarkOptimism/status/1071438457606680576

Richard D. Wolff photo
Richard D. Wolff photo
Richard D. Wolff photo
Szeto Wah photo

“My trust towards China was both built up and broken down by Deng Xiaoping. There was hope due to his economic reforms, but the 4 June massacre killed all that.”

Szeto Wah (1931–2011) Hong Kong politician and teacher

Szeto Wah obituary https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/10/szeto-wah-obituary

Benjamin Creme photo
Benjamin Creme photo
Wendell Berry photo

“By this time, the era of cut-and-run economics ought to be finished. Such an economy cannot be rationally defended or even apologized for. The proofs of its immense folly, heartlessness, and destructiveness are everywhere. Its failure as a way of dealing with the natural world and human society can no longer be sanely denied. That this economic system persists and grows larger and stronger in spite of its evident failure has nothing to do with rationality or, for that matter, with evidence. It persists because, embodied now in multinational corporations, it has discovered a terrifying truth: If you can control a people’s economy, you don’t need to worry about its politics; its politics have become irrelevant. If you control people’s choices as to whether or not they will work, and where they will work, and what they will do, and how well they will do it, and what they will eat and wear, and the genetic makeup of their crops and animals, and what they will do for amusement, then why should you worry about freedom of speech? In a totalitarian economy, any "political liberties" that the people might retain would simply cease to matter. If, as is often the case already, nobody can be elected who is not wealthy, and if nobody can be wealthy without dependence on the corporate economy, then what is your vote worth? The citizen thus becomes an economic subject.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

"Conserving Forest Communities"
Another Turn of the Crank (1996)

Wendell Berry photo
Marianne Williamson photo
H. H. Asquith photo

“...a return to more thrifty and economical administration [is] the first and paramount duty of the Government.”

H. H. Asquith (1852–1928) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Budget speech https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1906/apr/30/expenditure in the House of Commons (30 April 1906)
Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rab Butler photo
Benjamin Creme photo
Jacques Delors photo

“Europe is a commercial giant and an economic power of the first rank, but it is a political dwarf. Political cooperation in the Community will grow. The question is whether the supply services will follow.”

Jacques Delors (1925) French economist and politician

Speech to the press (3 December 1980), quoted in The Times (4 December 1980), p. 5
Member of the European Parliament

Friedrich Engels photo

“History has proved us, and all who thought like us, wrong. It has made it clear that the state of economic development on the Continent at that time [1848] was not, by a long way, ripe for the removal of capitalist production.”

Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) German social scientist, author, political theorist, and philosopher

Introduction (1895) https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1850/class-struggles-france/intro.htm to Marx's The Class Struggles in France (1848-50)

John Stuart Mill photo

“landlords... grow richer, as it were in their sleep, without working, risking, or economizing."”

Book 5, Chapter 2, Section 5
Principles of Political Economy (1848-1871)

Geoffrey West photo

“Economics hasn't had an Einstein because it hasn't had a Galileo yet.”

Geoffrey West (1940) British physicist

2010s
Source: Ole Peters https://twitter.com/ole_b_peters/status/1213560029590278145, at Santa Fe Institute's New Complexity Economics Symposium https://wiki.santafe.edu/index.php/Annual_Applied_Complexity_Network_and_Board_of_Trustees_Symposium:_New_Complexity_Economics, Nov. 8-9, 2019.

Sam Manekshaw photo

“Whether an atom bomb is necessary or not, in this world if you want to be recognized, if you don’t want to be kicked about, you have to be powerful both militarily and economically.”

Sam Manekshaw (1914–2008) First Field marshal of the Indian Army

An Interview With The Field Marshal - Apr 03, 2016, https://swarajyamag.com/from-the-archives/an-interview-with-the-field-marshal

Tenzin Gyatso photo
Donald J. Trump photo

“We're now setting records for employment, unemployment. We're setting all sorts of records economically.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2020s, 2020, October

Warren Farrell photo

“And when boys are hurt, they hurt us—physically, psychologically, and economically.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 106

Warren Farrell photo

“Women who have the option of being economically self-sustaining will increasingly want your son to also have emotional and relationship intelligence.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 82

George Bernard Shaw photo
Dorothy Thompson photo
Dorothy Thompson photo

“The rise of liberalism was accompanied by immense technological progress; by the industrial revolution; by the division of labor which ensued, and which suddenly, and prodigiously, accelerated the efficiency of production; and by the conception of economic life governed by the market. In other words, of economic life governed by the buyer, not the seller. This was a brand-new and wholly revolutionary idea.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
Source: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
pp. 65-66

John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“The new tax bill should improve both the equity and the simplicity of our present tax system. This means the enactment of long-needed tax reforms, a broadening of the tax base and the elimination or modification of many special tax privileges. These steps are not only needed to recover lost revenue and thus make possible a larger cut in present rates; they are also tied directly to our goal of greater growth. For the present patchwork of special provisions and preferences lightens the tax load of some only at the cost of placing a heavier burden on others. It distorts economic judgments and channels an undue amount of energy into efforts to avoid tax liabilities. It makes certain types of less productive activity more profitable than other more valuable undertakings. All this inhibits our growth and efficiency, as well as considerably complicating the work of both the taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service. These various exclusions and concessions have been justified in part as a means of overcoming oppressively high rates in the upper brackets--and a sharp reduction in those rates, accompanied by base-broadening, loophole-closing measures, would properly make the new rates not only lower but also more widely applicable. Surely this is more equitable on both counts.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York

John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“There are a number of ways by which the Federal Government can meet its responsibilities to aid economic growth. We can and must improve American education and technical training. We can and must expand civilian research and technology. One of the great bottlenecks for this country's economic growth in this decade will be the shortage of doctorates in mathematics, engineering, and physics; a serious shortage with a great demand and an under-supply of highly trained manpower. We can and must step up the development of our natural resources. But the most direct and significant kind of Federal action aiding economic growth is to make possible an increase in private consumption and investment demand--to cut the fetters which hold back private spending. In the past, this could be done in part by the increased use of credit and monetary tools, but our balance of payments situation today places limits on our use of those tools for expansion. It could also be done by increasing Federal expenditures more rapidly than necessary, but such a course would soon demoralize both the Government and our economy. If Government is to retain the confidence of the people, it must not spend more than can be justified on grounds of national need or spent with maximum efficiency.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York

John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Benjamin Creme photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Michael Foot photo

“I first joined the Labour party in Liverpool because of what I saw of the poverty, the unemployment, and the endless infamies committed on the inhabitants of the back-streets of that city. I am horrified that the threat of unemployment and economic misery is now being deployed against the same kind of people once again.”

Michael Foot (1913–2010) British politician

Source: Press conference after his election as Labour leader (10 November 1980), quoted in Simon Hoggart and David Leigh, Michael Foot: A Portrait (1981), p. 57 and The Guardian (11 November 1980), p. 1

Alicia Garza photo
Jon Ossoff photo
Leo Tolstoy photo
Leo Tolstoy photo

“But how is it you know all this about how large the ocean is? I thought you girls were limited to pretty chatter and the economics of housekeeping. I didn’t know you learned geography.”

Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) American fiction writer

“We don’t,” she said, somewhat shamefaced. “But we learned to read, and once one can read, one can learn anything.”
Source: Singer from the Sea (1999), Chapter 17, “Merdune Lagoon” (p. 272)

J. Howard Moore photo
Matthew Stover photo
Sheyene Gerardi photo
Richard Cobden photo
David Cay Johnston photo

“Revenge is the philosophy of dictators and mob bosses... used to keep others in line with threats of economic ruin, violence, or worse.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

It's Even Worse Than You Think (2018)

David Cay Johnston photo

“America has been transformed from a land of growing economic plenty into a hollow shell.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

The Fine Print (2013)

Ray Dalio photo
Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg photo
Michael Parenti photo
C. P. Scott photo
David Lloyd George photo

“There was something fundamentally wrong with our economic system. It was based upon injustice and could not last.”

David Lloyd George (1863–1945) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons
Source: Speech to the Welsh National Liberal Federation in Rhyl (9 July 1926), quoted in The Times (10 July 1926), p. 16

Adolf Hitler photo

“We stand for the maintenance of private property... We shall protect free enterprise as the most expedient, or rather the sole possible economic order.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

Quoted in Der Fuehrer, Hitler's Rise to Power https://www.google.it/books/edition/Der_Fuehrer/_lUTAQAAMAAJ?hl=it&gbpv=1&bsq=%22We+stand+for+the+maintenance+of+private+property...+We+shall+protect+free+enterprise+as+the+most+expedient,+or+rather+the+sole+possible+economic+order.%22&dq=%22We+stand+for+the+maintenance+of+private+property...+We+shall+protect+free+enterprise+as+the+most+expedient,+or+rather+the+sole+possible+economic+order.%22&printsec=frontcover, by Konrad Heiden. Statement of the 1920.
1920s

Murray N. Rothbard photo

“It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.”

Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) American economist of the Austrian School, libertarian political theorist, and historian

But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.
The Death Wish of the Anarcho-Communists (1970) http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard122.html.

Isaac Asimov photo

“It is all too easy to forget that there are emotional motivations in history, as well as economic ones.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

The Shaping of England (1969), p. 15
General sources

David R. Henderson photo

“The history of economic growth is the history of people making more with less and shifting into new jobs that were unheard of in the previous generation.”

David R. Henderson (1950) American economist

“The Case for a Dynamic Economy,” Hoover Daily Report (Sept. 22, 2003)

Cui Jian photo
James Howard Kunstler photo
Mao Zedong photo
Robert Kocharyan photo
Amartya Sen photo
Amartya Sen photo

“The impoverishment of economics related to its distancing from ethics affects both welfare economics (narrowing its reach and relevance) and predictive economics”

Amartya Sen (1933) Indian economist

weakening its behavioural foundations
Chap. 2 : Economic Judgements and Moral Philosophy
1990s, On Ethics and Economics (1991)

Tadeusz Mazowiecki photo

“We reject a political philosophy asserting that economic reforms can be launched over and against society, above people's heads - one that pushes democratic change aside.”

Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013) Polish politician and prime minister

"Inaugural address of Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki" https://polishfreedom.pl/en/document/statement-inaugural-address-of-the-prime-minister-tadeusz-mazowiecki-delivered-at-the-seym-session-on-12th-september-1989 (12 September 1989)

Emma Goldman photo
Roh Tae-woo photo

“The people strongly demand an end to the authoritarian system. It has become a stark reality that an authoritarian system can no longer maintain national unity, achieve economic development and preserve national security.”

Roh Tae-woo (1932–2021) Army general and President of South Korea

"Man In The News; A Traveler From Seoul: Roh Tae Woo" in The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/15/world/man-in-the-news-a-traveler-from-seoul-roh-tae-woo.html (15 September 1987)

Franklin D. Roosevelt photo

“The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States

1940s, State of the Union Address — Second Bill of Rights (1944)

Jason Kenney photo

“We cannot continue indefinitely to impair the social and economic — as well as the mental health and physiological health of the broader population — for potentially a year for an influenza that does not generally threaten life apart from the elderly and the immunocompromised.”

Jason Kenney (1968) Canadian politician and 18th Premier of Alberta

On the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta https://globalnews.ca/news/7000260/alberta-premier-jason-kenney-covid-19-speech-trumpian/ (28 May 2020)
2020s

Alfred Marshall photo
John Maynard Keynes photo

“We persist in regarding ourselves as a great power, capable of everything and only temporarily handicapped by economic difficulties. We are not a great power and never will be again. We are a great nation, but if we continue to behave like a great power we shall soon cease to be a great nation.”

Henry Tizard (1885–1959) British chemist

Memo written as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Ministry of Defence https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/01/britain-retrenched-island-europe-papers-react-to-brexit-day (1949)

Greg McKeown (author) photo
Thokozani Khuphe photo

“We need a paradigm shift from a male-dominated economic mantra to an inclusive and transformational nation- building approach that can be enshrined in our people-driven constitution”

Thokozani Khuphe (1963) Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

Source: Zimbabwe: Recognise Women's Role - Khupe http://www.peacewomen.org/content/zimbabwe-recognise-womens-role-khupe

James Howard Kunstler photo
Paul D. Miller (academic) photo
Joe Biden photo

“[W]hen people talk about climate, I think jobs. Within our climate response lies an extraordinary engine of job creation and economic opportunity ready to be fired up.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2021, April 2021
Source: 22 April 2021 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/22/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-virtual-leaders-summit-on-climate-opening-session/

Vera Stanley Alder photo
Nambaryn Enkhbayar photo

“In terms of economic achievements we still need better results - still unemployment and poverty is a main concern for the government of Mongolia, so we have to focus now more on economic development issues.”

Nambaryn Enkhbayar (1958) Mongolian politician, Leader of Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

Source: "Mongolia, US Sign Developmental Aid Agreement" in Voice of America https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2007-10-23-voa2/405655.html (1 November 2009)

Wojciech Jaruzelski photo
Bill Moyers photo

“Bullies — political bullies, economic bullies, and religious bullies — cannot be appeased; they have to be opposed with courage, clarity, and conviction. This is never easy. These Fanaticism|true believers don't fight fair. Robert's Rules of Order is not one of their holy texts.”

Bill Moyers (1934) American journalist

"The Sport of God https://www.commondreams.org/views/2005/09/09/911-and-sport-god", speech accepting the Union Medal of the Union Theological Seminary (7 September 2005), as quoted Moyers on Democracy (2008), p. 375

Angela Davis photo
Peter F. Drucker photo

“It is not enough for the economist in a free society to be a good economic craftsman; he must also think and act as a citizen.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, An Economist Looks At the Peace (1945)

Viktor Yanukovych photo

“I would like you to warn that the economic situation in Ukraine is going to degenerate, and those who usurp the power are going to shift the blame for this economic crisis on my shoulders, and perhaps even on Russia.”

Viktor Yanukovych (1950) Ukrainian politician who was the President of Ukraine

Source: "Transcript: Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych on the situation in his country" in The Washington Post https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DGoGVKRGNYMJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/transcript-ukraines-viktor-yanukovych-on-the-situation-in-his-country/2014/03/11/ffb8fefe-a942-11e3-8599-ce7295b6851c_story.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (11 March 2014)

Ebrahim Raisi photo

“We know that threats and sanctions from the enemy have brought difficulties to the management of the country, but there are also considerable sacred, popular, economic and international capabilities that can help us overcome these challenges.”

Ebrahim Raisi (1960) Iranian president

Source: 5 August 2021, Speech after oath taking ceremony in Tehran https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/463741/Raisi-officially-takes-oath-of-office-as-Iran-s-president

Olaf Scholz photo

“We are putting all our weapons on the table to show that we (Germany) are strong enough to overcome any economic challenge that this (COVID-19) problem might pose.”

Olaf Scholz (1958) German politician, federal minister of finance and vice chancellor

Source: Olaf Scholz cited in: " Olaf Scholz: Who is Germany's new chancellor? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53735728" in BBC News, 8 December 2021.

Alberto Fernández photo

“It is important that we all complete our vaccinations and give ourselves boosters to sustain this (COVID-19) epidemiological situation and continue to grow (economically). Don't hesitate, get vaccinated.”

Alberto Fernández (1959) President of Argentina

Source: Alberto Fernández (2021) cited in: " President Alberto Fernández given third dose of Sputnik V vaccine https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/president-alberto-fernandez-given-third-dose-of-sputnik-v-vaccine.phtml" in Buenos Aires Times, 6 December 2021.