Economics Insights
Bella Abzug:
If we get a government that reflects more of what this country is really about,
we can turn the century -- and the economy -- around.
Barbara Ehrenreich:
The only truly new ideas [the right] has come up with in the last twenty years
are [1] supply side economics, which is a way of redistributing the wealth
upward toward those who already have more than they know what to do with, and
[2] creationism, which is a parallel idea for redistributing ignorance out from
its fundamentalist strongholds to those who know more than they need to.
Brad Shapcott
“The Internet isn't free. It just has an economy that makes no sense to
capitalism.”
Dalai Lama
“I find that because of modern technological evolution and our global economy,
and as a result of the great increase in population, our world has greatly
changed: it has become much smaller. However, our perceptions have not evolved
at the same pace; we continue to cling to old national demarcations and the old
feelings of 'us' and 'them'.” [Head of the Dge-lugs-pa order of Tibetan
Buddhists, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, b.1935]
Dave Barry:
The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time
and again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of
people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set
your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let
alone the economy. The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix
your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time
for Ugly Pants Night at the country club.
James W. Skillen:
American liberals and conservatives share much of the same political heritage.
Originally the term Liberal referred to the political and economic ideal of
liberating individuals from unrepresentative and arbitrary governments. Early
liberalism set in motion patterns for the rule of law that would guarantee
individual rights, representation in law making, access to the courts, and
protection of private property. Both conservatives and liberals are Liberal in
this sense. But whereas American conservatives of various stripes have continued
to place primary emphasis on individual freedom, the autonomy of private
institutions, and limits to government in the economic area, American liberals
have more frequently appealed to government to advance the liberation of
individuals from economic, racial, and political disadvantages in society as a
whole.
Jay Leno:
“President Bush said it's now time for a change in Iraq and he wants them to
have a Western-style democracy like ours. So right now in Iraq, the economy is
collapsing, businessmen are corrupt, and Hussein wants his son to take over as
president. Sounds like mission accomplished.” [American TV Host and
Comedian, b.1950]
John Dewey:
I believe that education is the fundamental method of social progress and
reform. All reforms which rest simply upon the law, or the threatening of
certain penalties, or upon changes in mechanical or outward arrangements, are
transitory and futile.... But through education society can formulate its own
purposes, can organize its own means and resources, and thus shape itself with
definiteness and economy in the direction in which it wishes to move....
Education thus conceived marks the most perfect and intimate union of science
and art conceivable in human experience. [My Pedagogic Creed, 1897]
Med Yones:
The worst thing that could happen to any economy
is the loss of consumer's confidence [International
Institute of Management]
Med Yones:
The ways in which senior executives
allocate, manage and position the new digital assets and knowledge resources
will have a strong bearing on the firm’s ability to compete successfully in
today’s global digital economy. [International
Institute of Management]
Milton Friedman:
“The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was
produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of
the private economy.” [American Economist, b.1912]
Robert S. McElvaine:
Most liberals never lost sight of the potential for evil in big government. They
have consistently opposed government power in matters of personal and political
belief. Liberals are not unconcerned with economic liberty, but they have come
to believe that the common good requires that social justice be given a higher
priority than absolute economic freedom. Conservatives are—and always have
been—on the other side of both questions. They are much more prone than liberals
to limiting personal and political liberties, but they place the freedom of an
individual to do as he pleases in the economic realm at the top of their
concerns. Social justice has held a lower priority for conservatives, from the
days of Alexander Hamilton when they favored strong government as a means of
protecting their economic privileges to the days of Ronald Reagan when they see
government as an instrument of social justice and therefore a threat to their
economic position.
Ronald Reagan:
“Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If
it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving,
subsidise it” [American 40th US President [1981- 89], 1911-2004]
Thomas Jefferson:
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own
pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor
and bread it has earned -- this is the sum of good government. [U.S. President]
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