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Best Economics Quotes

The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences.

The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. Thomas Sowell

I believe that economics is based on scarcity of markets. And it’s possible to monetize your art without compromising the integrity of it for commerce. Nipsey Hussle


Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics. David Attenborough

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard for their own interest.
Adam Smith

Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice. Adam Smith

Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor. Adam Smith

The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people. Karl Marx

Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist. Kenneth Boulding

In the long run we are all dead. John Maynard Keynes

I don’t believe in trickle-down economics. I don’t think that people who have the most are inclined to share it, generally. Dave Matthews
Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are — a simple upwa

Don’t let anybody tell you it’s corporations and businesses create jobs. You know that old theory, ‘trickle-down economics.’ That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly. Hillary Clinton

People were poor not because they were stupid or lazy. They worked all day long, doing complex physical tasks. They were poor because the financial institution in the country did not help them widen their economic base. Muhammad Yunus

Both free speech rights and property rights belong legally to individuals, but their real function is social, to benefit vast numbers of people who do not themselves exercise these rights. Thomas Sowell

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder. John F. Kennedy

The reason we should do a carbon tax is because it’s the right thing to do. It’s economics 101, elementary stuff. Elon Musk

Zero-sum thinking is an obsession of mine, but mostly in economics. P. J. O’Rourke

I think economics is about passion. Economic progress, whether it is a two-person coffee shop or whether it is Netscape, is about people with brave ideas. Because it is brave to mortgage the house, when you’ve got two kids, to start a coffee shop. Tom Peters

The most important question in 21st-century economics may well be, ‘What should we do with all the superfluous people, once we have highly intelligent non-conscious algorithms that can do almost everything better than humans?’ Yuval Noah Harari

History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them. B. R. Ambedkar

The secret to the movie business, or any business, is to get a good education in a subject besides film – whether it’s history, psychology, economics, or architecture – so you have something to make a movie about. All the skill in the world isn’t going to help you unless you have

As a multisport athlete, I was always fascinated with competition and how to win. At HBS and later at the Harvard Department of Economics, I was drawn to the field of competition and strategy because it tackles perhaps the most basic question in both business management and indus

Human well-being is not a random phenomenon. It depends on many factors – ranging from genetics and neurobiology to sociology and economics. But, clearly, there are scientific truths to be known about how we can flourish in this world. Wherever we can have an impact on the well-b

It was never my intention to marry anybody. Economics are basically the only reason to get married, but I’m very glad I did it. Helen Mirren

We know that advanced economies with stable governments that borrow in their own currency are capable of running up very high levels of debt without crisis. Paul Krugman

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission. Ayn Rand

Love of money is the root of all evil. The New Testament

Lack of money is the root of of all evil. George Bernard Shaw

Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt. Herbert Hoover


Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it. Syrus (1st century B.C.)

No nation was ever ruined by trade. Benjamin Franklin

Inflation is like toothpaste. Once it’s out, you can hardly get it back in again.
Karl Pohl, former West German central banker

A recession is when your neighbor is out of work. A depression is when you are out of work. Harry Truman

Protectionism is the institutionalization of economic failure. Edward Heath

Supply creates its own demand. J.B. Say

We have one asset, and that’s people. Sylvia Ostry

The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation, the second is war. Both bring temporary prosperity; both bring permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists. Ernest Hemingway

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Pierre Dos Utt

Rejection is an opportunity for your selection. Bernard Branson

If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has. John Maynard Keynes

“Rather than justice for all, we are evolving into a system of justice for those who can afford it. We have banks that are not only too big to fail, but too big to be held accountable. Joseph E. Stiglitz

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress. Herbert Hoover

Art is the beautiful way of doing things. Science is the effective way of doing things. Business is the economic way of doing things. Elbert Hubbard

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