2219 quotes by economists for you to enjoy

There is nothing remotely dignified about sorting through rotting trash to find something to feed your child, or asking someone for money because you have none (anyone who has contrived to give people money before they had to ask will never forget the look of gratitude in their eyes). Abhijit Banerjee

Gratitude You Eyes People Money Will Before Nothing Dignified Find About Someone Give Something Through Never Had Never Forget Feed Remotely Look Sorting Because None Child Forget Contrived Anyone Ask Asking Your Your Child Who Trash Rotting

Corruption is a huge problem and the poor and the powerless are often its most egregious victims. But it is not an accident that the most effective bureaucracies in the world rely much more on internal controls rather than on independent ombudsmen. Abhijit Banerjee

Corruption Problem World Accident Independent Rather More Rely Most Powerless Effective Huge Than Often Controls Victims Poor Much Internal

The tragedy of the UPA is not that it didn't do anything, but that it is not able to take credit for what it has done. By staying silent when it should have been shouting from the rooftop and by protecting the guilty, it surrendered the governance agenda to AAP. Abhijit Banerjee

Guilty Silent Able Staying Take Protecting Governance Been Tragedy Done Anything Agenda Should Shouting Credit

If you want to leave move money in the hands of poor people, you cannot do it through personal income tax cuts. You have to just give them money. Abhijit Banerjee

The Korean government is the first to declare that if you replace people with machines you have to pay a tax. It's a tax on robots. They make private companies internalise the social cost of unemployment. Social benefit is not the same as private benefit. We have to realise this. Abhijit Banerjee

Public conversations about who we are and who we want to be are key to the vitality of our democracy, and leaders can seed those conversations when they speak out their own views. Abhijit Banerjee

Democracy Speak Key Own Our Those Out Seed Vitality About Leaders Want Conversations Public Views Who

What's nice about experiments is that they are much more closely tied to what theorists think about the world than normal empirical research. You can design your experiment to exactly ask the question you want to ask. This is not true about normal empirical research. Abhijit Banerjee

The poverty line in the U.S., for example, has nothing to do with the poverty line in India. It is a relative poverty line. It is reset from time to time but it is related to U.S. median income, so if I set that to be the absolute poverty line everyone in India would essentially be poor. Abhijit Banerjee

Time Example Poverty Nothing Related Everyone Relative Would India Absolute Poverty Line For Example Line From Time To Time Essentially Poor Income Median Set

Franklin Delano Roosevelt eventually became the greatest liberal leader of 20th century United States, but he started as a fiscal conservative. His greatness is founded in his willingness to change his mind to save his country from the Great Depression. Abhijit Banerjee

Depression Great Change Conservative Mind Leader Country Liberal Great Depression States Franklin Willingness He 20th Century Became Greatest Fiscal His Greatness Century Roosevelt United Eventually United States Founded Started Save

We've learned a huge amount from organisations like Seva Mandir and Pratham, for example. In my personal experience, these organisations work on a very large scale with very poor people. Abhijit Banerjee

Work Experience People Example Scale Like For Example Learned Huge Huge Amount Very Personal Personal Experience Poor Poor People Organisations Large Large-Scale Amount

Healthcare expenses often wipe out families. Abhijit Banerjee

Out Wipe Healthcare Families Often Expenses

Independence day is an interesting time to reflect on our strange fealty to institutions that the British left us, including those that were explicitly set up to be used against us. Abhijit Banerjee

The first time I went to the Planning Commission was when it was under KC Pant, a long time ago. Since then I have been back there many, many times to the point where the many people who seem to spend their lives sitting outside the various offices and even the patches of grime in the hallways and stairwells began to look familiar. Abhijit Banerjee

Time People Long Long Time First Back Spend Seem Various Point Outside Long Time Ago Since Look First Time Been Began Familiar Times Patches Commission Offices Sitting Where Then Planning Who Many Even Lives

We need to learn to work with political systems that are not perfect instead of taking the view: let's first fix the politics, then we'll fix the rest. Abhijit Banerjee

Work Politics Political Not Perfect Rest First Systems Perfect Instead Taking Learn Fix Political Systems Then View Need

We will remember UPA 2, if at all, it seems, as that period when things went mysteriously wrong - for the bribe-taking, buck-passing, foot-dragging, and general sense of paralysis. Abhijit Banerjee

Remember Will Sense Paralysis Seems General General Sense Wrong Period Things

Milk production is one of India's great success stories. Abhijit Banerjee

Success Great India Great Success Stories Success Stories Production Milk

So, I went to Harvard and I got exposed to American work habits. I didn't even realise for a while that I was behind. I kind of had the illusion that I was understanding things. But people worked so hard and the thing I learnt first in America was that people work incredibly hard. Abhijit Banerjee

Work People Illusion First Understanding Incredibly Harvard Kind Habits Had Got Learnt America American Behind Realise While Worked Hard Exposed Even Thing Things

Jawaharlal Nehru did a huge amount for education in India. Abhijit Banerjee

Education India Huge Huge Amount Did Amount

I was trained as an economic theorist; my job at MIT was as an economic theorist. At some level that's still part of my identity. Abhijit Banerjee

Job Some Economic Part Identity Still MIT Trained Theorist Level

If PM-Kisan is implemented well, it will leave some money in the hands of poor farmers. Abhijit Banerjee

Money Will Some Implemented Well Leave Hands Poor Farmers

Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi, the ultimate didi and dada of Indian politics, should really commiserate. Abhijit Banerjee

Politics Indian Ultimate Really Should

Quotes by Economists