- Focus
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- Nov 07, 2020
Economic Theory Quotes
Thoughts on the ideas that shape how economies are explained.
These quotes trace economic theory across centuries, from mercantilism's grip on early modern Europe to the shift toward British classical thought after Smith and Ricardo. Several lines question theories that treat labor as just another input.
- Last Updated on Aug 01, 2026
- Capitalism
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- Nov 07, 2020
Every non-Marxist economic theory that treats human and non-human productive inputs as interchangeable assumes that the dehumanisation of human labour is complete. But if it could ever be completed, the result would be the end of capitalism as a system capable of creating and distributing value.
- Europe
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- Nov 07, 2020
Mercantilism was an insidious economic theory that held Europe in its thrall in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
- Good
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- Nov 07, 2020
I have never believed that central banks should have rigid inflation targeting. That is not a good thing to stabilize. There is nothing in economic theory to back this.
- Economic
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- Nov 07, 2020
Early economic theory was rooted in the Italian, French, and Spanish traditions, which were subjectivist oriented. Then it shifted onto the terrible path by Smith and Ricardo and the British classical tradition, which is 'objectivist' - values are in inherent in production.
- Economic
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- Nov 07, 2020
Evidence and economic theory suggests that control of the Internet by the phone and cable companies would lead to blocking of competing technologies.
- Experiencing
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- Nov 07, 2020
In short, both experience and economic theory imply that the US could now t to a more competitive dollar without experiencing either increased inflation or decreased economic growth.
- Power
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- Nov 07, 2020
The first issue to be settled is whether socialism has a right to exist Are its allegations concerning the present system true? Is industry proceeding on a principle of fraud? I wish to test the power of recent economic theory to give an exact answer to this question.
- People
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- Nov 07, 2020
We could solve all our problems if only we were the efficient, rational human beings of standard economic theory and had politicians willing to think in the long-term interest of their people rather than their own.
- Political
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- Nov 07, 2020
A lot of things that we cannot buy and sell in markets used to be totally legal objects of market exchange - human beings when we had slavery, child labour, human organs, and so on. So there is no economic theory that actually says that you shouldn't have slavery or child labour because all these are political, ethical judgments.
- Price
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- Nov 07, 2020
Even before I came to Chicago, I had gotten interested in the existence of dispersion of prices under conditions which economic theory said would yield a single price.
- Future
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- Nov 07, 2020
We don't see very far in the future, we are very focused on one idea at a time, one problem at a time, and all these are incompatible with rationality as economic theory assumes it.
- Optimism
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- Nov 07, 2020