Why does a public discussion of economic policy so often show the abysmal ignorance of the participants? Robert Solow More Quotes by Robert Solow More Quotes From Robert Solow It is a good idea to be ambitious, to have goals, to want to be good at what you do, but it is a terrible mistake to let drive and ambition get in the way of treating people with kindness and decency. The point is not that they will then be nice to you. It is that you will feel better about yourself. Robert Solow dream inspirational love If God had meant there to be more than two factors of production, He would have made it easier for us to draw three-dimension al diagrams. Robert Solow als three two You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics. Robert Solow computer statistics age There is not some glorious theoretical synthesis of capitalism that you can write down in a book and follow. You have to grope your way Robert Solow ignorance writing book Everything reminds Milton of the money supply. Well, everything reminds me of sex, but I keep it out of the paper. Robert Solow paper trying sex The world can, in effect, get along without natural resources, so exhaustion is just an event, not a catastrophe. Robert Solow events natural world But part of the job of economics is weeding out errors. That is much harder than making them, but also more fun. Robert Solow weed fun jobs The fact that there is no such thing as a perfect anti-sepsis does not mean that one might as well do brain surgery in a sewer. Robert Solow perfect brain mean Suppose someone sits down where you are sitting right now and announces to me that he is Napoleon Bonaparte. The last thing I want to do with him is to get involved in a technical discussion of cavalry tactics at the Battle of Austerlitz. If I do that, I'm getting tacitly drawn into the game that he is Napoleon Bonaparte. Robert Solow battle games want The user of land should not be allowed to acquire rights of indefinite duration for single payments. For efficiency, for adequate revenue and for justice, every user of land should be required to make an annual payment to the local government equal to the current rental value of the land that he or she prevents others from using. Robert Solow government land rights Computers show up everywhere except the growth statistics. Robert Solow computer statistics growth I remember once reading that it is still not understood how the giraffe manages to pump an adequate blood supply all the way up to its head; but it is hard to imagine that anyone would conclude tht giraffes do not have long necks. At least not anyone who had ever been to a zoo Robert Solow reading zoos blood Growth theory did not begin with my articles of 1956 and 1957, and it certainly did not end there. Maybe it began with 'The Wealth of Nations'; and probably even Adam Smith had predecessors. Robert Solow end wealth growth theory The wealth-income ratio in the United States has always been lower than in Europe. The main reason in the early years was that land values bulked less in the wide open spaces of North America. There was, of course, much more land, but it was very cheap. Robert Solow always values reason america The key thing about wealth in a capitalist economy is that it reproduces itself and usually earns a positive net return. Robert Solow key wealth economy positive We have fluctuations all the time, business cycles, and they come about in various ways, but normally what sets them off is some reduction in the willingness of our population, our businesses, and foreigners to buy. Robert Solow some population business time
