#Economics Quotes

“What a benefit would the American government, not yet relieved of its extreme need, render to itself, and to every city, village and hamlet in the States, if it would tax whiskey and rum almost to the point of prohibition! Was it Bonaparte who said that he found vices very good patriots? "He got five millions from the love of brandy, and he should be glad to know which of the virtues would pay him as much." Tobacco and opium have broad backs, and will cheerfully carry the load of armies, if you choose to make them pay high for such joy as they give and such harm as they do.”

“The goof man, in dealing with his people, taxes them with luxury.”

“If you tax too high, the revenue will yield nothing.”

“Land monopoly is not only monopoly, but it is by far the greatest of monopolies; it is a perpetual monopoly, and it is the mother of all other forms of monopoly.”

“Personally I think that private property has a right to be defended. Our civilisation is built up on property, and can only be defended by private property.”

“The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.”

“In finance everything that is agreeable is unsoundand everything that is sound is disagreeable.”

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

“We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges”

“When we run out of money, we have to start thinking.”

“There is no sphere of human thought in which it is easier to show superficial cleverness and the appearance of superior wisdom than in discussing questions of currency and exchange”

“Money is like manure, its only good if you spread it around.”

“The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery.”

“It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.”

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

“If you destroy a free market you create a black market.”

“Advertising mourishes the consuming power of men. It sets up before a man the goal of a better home, better clothing, better food for himself and his family. It spurs individual exertion and greater production.”

“Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.”

“The masters of the government of the United States are the combined capitalists and manufacturers of the United States.”

“Is there any man here or any woman, let me say is there any child here, who does not know that the seed of war in the modern world is industrial and commercial rivalry?”

“It is in the interest of the wage-earner to have many other alternatives open to him than service under one all-powerful employer called the State”

“No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.”

“There is nothing government can give you that it hasn't taken from you in the first place.”

“There is no income tax in Russia. But there's no income.”

“The bankers just got a good cussing by everybody for loaning too much money. Well, they got some awful nice buildings. So when a banker fails, he fails in splendor.”

“We are sure living in a peculiar time. You get morefor not working than you will for working, and morefor not raising a hog than for raising it.”

“Our country has plenty of five-cent cigars, but the trouble is they charge fifteen cents for them.”

“When everybody has got money they cut taxes, and when they're broke they raise them. That's statesmanship of the highest order.”

“Christopher Columbus was the first socialist: he didn't know where he was going, he didn?t know where he was? and he did it all at taxpayers expense.”

“It's almost worth the Great Depression to learn how little our big men know.”

“The business of government is to keep the government out of business - that is, unless business needs government aid.”

“Advertising nourishes the consuming power of men.”

“The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.”

“Lots of folks are forced to skimp to support a government that won't.”

“Ten men in our country could buy the whole world and ten million can't buy enough to eat.”

“Real estate is the best investment in the world because it is the only thing they're not making any more.”

“Prosperity this Winter is going to be enjoyed by everybody that is fortunate enough to get into the poor farm.”

“I think the FDIC was one of the great inventions of the American.”

“President Coolidge said, 'I don't want the Government to go into business.' Well, if I was Mr. Coolidge I wouldn't worry over that. The Government never has been accused of being a business man.”

“The trouble with land is that they're not making it anymore.”

“In my view, [the trade deficit] will create political turmoil at some point...Pretty soon, I think there will be a big adjustment.”

“It makes a difference who the treasury secretary is.”

“The government says they have loaned over One Billion dollars to the Farmers. In other words, we can't help you make any money, but we will show you where you can owe some more.”

“I mean, we'll be pounding on the guy's chest, you know, on the floor, and you know, he's not going to just jump up all of a sudden. So it makes it tough. I mean, it's tough to be in the legislature, you know, and vote for something and then people say, well, you voted all this money and you know, it's all getting spent. It isn't getting spent. It's getting invested. But it's all getting spent. Nothing's happening.”

“If the other fellow sells cheaper than you, it is called dumping. 'Course, if you sell cheaper than him, that's mass production.”

“I know things are going to get better in spite of both sides. Then when things do get better, then you'll hear the yell that will go up. The Democrats will swear that recovery was due to them. Now the Republicans, they'll say it was due to them. Nobody wanted to claim the credit for the country blowing up, but wait until it starts picking up and they'll both be on it then. See?”

“There is one rule that works in every calamity. Be it pestilence, war, or famine, the rich get richer and poor get poorer. The poor even help arrange it.”

“I mean there is no capital requirements to it or anything of the sort. And basically, I said there were possibly financial weapons of mass destruction, and they had them. They destroyed AIG. They certainly contributed to the destruction of Bear Sterns and Lehman. Although Lehman had other problems, too.”

“In economics, you always want to ask 'And then what?'”

“It's not debt per say that overwhelms an individual corporation or country. Rather it is a continuous increase in debt in relation to income that causes trouble.”