Inflation does not lubricate trade but by rescuing traders from their errors of optimism or stupidity. John Kenneth Galbraith More Quotes by John Kenneth Galbraith More Quotes From John Kenneth Galbraith One of the best ways of avoiding necessary and even urgent tasks is to seem to be busily employed on things that are already done. John Kenneth Galbraith tasksdonework In 1929 the discovery of the wonders of the geometric series struck Wall Street with a force comparable to the invention of the wheel. John Kenneth Galbraith wheelswalldiscovery Even the word depression itself was the terminological product of an effort to soften the connotation of deep trouble. In the last century, the term crisis was normally employed. With time, however, this acquired the connotation of the misfortune it described. John Kenneth Galbraith effortlaststrouble Ideas do not respect national frontiers, and this is especially so where language and other traditions are in common. John Kenneth Galbraith languagecommonideas Seaboard Air Line, which was thought by numerous innocents to provide a foothold in aviation, was another favorite, although, in fact, it was a railroad. John Kenneth Galbraith railroadslinesair Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or unduly firm opinion. Nonetheless, there must be a speech: Speeches in our culture are the vacuum that fills a vacuum. John Kenneth Galbraith vacuumspoliticalsex Educators have yet to realize how deeply the industrial system is dependent upon them. John Kenneth Galbraith educatordependentrealizing It is not the individual's right to buy that is being protected. Rather, it is the seller's right to manage the individual. John Kenneth Galbraith protectedmanageindividual In the assumption that power belongs as a matter of course to capital, all economists are Marxians. John Kenneth Galbraith economistassumptionmatter Only in very recent times has the average man been a source of savings. John Kenneth Galbraith savingaveragemen Very important functions can be performed very wastefully and often are. John Kenneth Galbraith functionimportant It is in the long run that the corporation lives. John Kenneth Galbraith corporationsrunninglong Man, at least when educated, is a pessimist. He believes it safer not to reflect on his achievements; Jove is known to strike such people down. John Kenneth Galbraith menbelievepeople Men have been swindled by other men on many occasions. The autumn of 1929 was, perhaps, the first occasion when men succeeded on a large scale in swindling themselves. John Kenneth Galbraith autumnmenfirsts If you get a reputation for being honest, you have 95 percent of the competition already beat. John Kenneth Galbraith reputationcompetitionhonest It's much easier to point out the problem than it is to say just how it should be solved. John Kenneth Galbraith easierproblemshould The shortcomings of economics are not original error but uncorrected obsolescence. The obsolescence has occurred because what is convenient has become sacrosanct. Anyone who attacks such ideas must seem to be a trifle self-confident and even aggressive. The man who makes his entry by leaning against an infirm door gets an unjustified reputation for violence. Something is to be attributed to the poor state of the door. John Kenneth Galbraith errorsdoorsmen Increasingly in recent times we have come first to identify the remedy that is most agreeable, most convenient, most in accord with major pecuniary or political interest, the one that reflects our available faculty for action; then we move from the remedy so available or desired back to a cause to which that remedy is relevant. John Kenneth Galbraith politicaltimemoving Good writing, and this is especially important in a subject such as economics, must also involve the reader in the matter at hand. It is not enough to explain. The images that are in the mind of the writer must be made to reappear in the mind of the reader, and it is the absence of this ability that causes much economic writing to be condemned, quite properly, as abstract. John Kenneth Galbraith mindwritinghands If people are hungry, ill-clad, unsheltered or diseased, nothing is so important as to remedy their condition. John Kenneth Galbraith hungerimportantpeople
