Some famous economics quotes

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<p>“I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution-taking from the federal government their power of borrowing.”–Thomas Jefferson.</p>

<p>"You have to choose as a voter between trusting to the natural stability of Gold or the natural stability and intelligence of the government. And with due respect to these gentlemen, I advise you,as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for Gold.–George Bernard Shaw, Irish Dramatist, Theorist & Philosopher (1856-1950)</p>

<p>Like Gold, U.S. Dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But, the U.S. Government has a technology called a printing press, that allows us to print as many dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost."–Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman. </p>

<p>“All of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the defects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.”–John Adams.</p>

<p>“Paper Money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero.”–Voltaire, French Poet, Historian, Philosopher. (1694-1778)</p>

<p>“The great merit of Gold is precisely that it is scarce; that its quantity is limited by nature; that it is costly to discover, to mine, and to process,and that it cannot be created by political fiat or caprice.”–Henry Hazlitt, Libertarian Philosopher, and Economist of Austrian School (1894-1993)</p>

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<p>The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled and the pubic debt should be reduced. The arrogance of public officialdom should be tempered and controlled. And the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest we become bankrupt." – Cicero, 63 B.C.</p>

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<p>In the long run we are all dead.</p>

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<p>There’s no such thing as a free lunch.</p>

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<p>When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: ‘Whose?’</p>

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<p>

Say it ain’t so.</p>

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<p>"Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. " ~ Milton Friedman</p>

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<p>“I’m in the FBI office and I’m handcuffed to a chair” __Bernard Madoff</p>

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<p>*A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. With the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, followed always by a dictatorship. *</p>

<p>Quote attributed to Alexander Fraser</p>

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<p>Money talks. BIG money swears. </p>

<p>(Old Wall Street adage)</p>

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<p>As heard on CNBC: now we will hear his version of the truth.… Silly me, I thought there was only one version of the truth.</p>

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<p>Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.</p>

<p>—John Kenneth Galbraith</p>

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<p>Willful waste makes woeful want. </p>

<p>– [1721</a> J. Kelly Scottish Proverbs 353](<a href=“Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions”>Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions)</p>

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<p>And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
~ Thomas Jefferson</p>

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<p>I feel this quote is likely the best of the bunch, especially since it is so very true. Our current Federal Reserve just has so much power, it could criple the US and likely the world any time it saw fit. Before congress could intervene irrevocable damage will have been done.</p>

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<p>Are you folks nuts? (I mean the ones cheering this stuff on.)</p>

<p>The OP’s collection of quotes is like a gallery of stupid things that smart people said. Yeah! The gold standard! That would solve all our problems! And no borrowing! And, while we’re on that path, how about adopting sharia? Things were way better in the Middle Ages!</p>

<p>The Taliban: if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em.</p>

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<p>when banker/economist brother gets it wrong, “Oh, Well.”</p>

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<p>JHS:</p>

<p>Calmdown my friend. :)</p>

<p>Last time I checked they were teaching and debating some of these famous people’s opinion in the classes at harvard. </p>

<p>Since when opinion that does not suit our own view point are stupid things. Some of them are valid, otherwise people will not be debating these issues.</p>

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<p>They aren’t teaching and debating these particular opinions, I’ll bet. I mean, I love Shaw and Voltaire as much as the next guy, but their views on monetary policy are not particularly informed by . . . anything. I’m not even certain that “paper money” is an important concept anymore, but I would say that – limiting oneself to stable, developed economies – Voltaire’s prediction turns out to be something of an embarrassment. Shaw’s too. And I suppose I might be willing to eliminate banks if one could also eliminate standing armies at the same time, but I don’t see that happening, and very few people would take that deal.</p>

<p>As for Hazlitt and gold – not only is the supply much more elastic than he assumes, but the qualities he describes are shared by plenty of other commodities. All of which, by the way, seem to have deflated in value recently, while gold hit all-time highs. The chief value of gold seems to be the romantic attachment goldbugs seem to have to it.</p>

<p>Of course, debates over paper money, the Bank of the United States, and the gold standard have lots of historical importance, and deserve to be understood. And modern monetarism is a respectable position – but it is a lot more sophisticated and nuanced than is suggested by any of these quotes. But the gold standard and eliminating the Fed? I’ll leave those to Ron Paul and Lyndon LaRouche, thanks.</p>

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<p>JHS:</p>

<p>If only I have kwon that good communincation skills are more important than my math/science skills., I would have my career very far in life. It is okay a grad school in top 5 technical schools at USA vesrsus an Ivy leauge. No complaints.</p>

<p>They are not teaching these opinions but when in harvard they teach a cousre on cisero letters, during class discussion these other opinions also come into play. When you meet with professors in private discussions, they are ready to answer many question what inquisitives mind asks. </p>

<p>If you read about the guy name David Einhorn’s Speech: Up With Gold; Down With Dentists who made ton of a money shorting banks and he is saying gold when he bought in the bottom, you have to know why Gold is going up.</p>