Archive for category: Quotes

Dani Rodrik’s blog can be found here. I found this quote insightful:

“The problem wasn’t with the economics but with the economists.” Theories and models are tools, but “we have fixated on one of the possible hundreds of models and elevated that above the others,” he said, referring to free market theory. “We form a narrative of the moment, which fits the zeitgeist.”

From the New York times (ht The Big Picture).

Like we have said a million times – the economic method is awesome for framing issues. But picking a model (which involves picking a set of value judgments) is not necessarily our strong point.

Previously, I have felt that economists could focus on setting up the framework and letting other people throw in the value judgments – but this process has not described the way economists have acted. As a result, it also shouldn’t describe what people judge economists on.

The economic method is great for making value judgments transparent – but it appears (some) economists seem more interested in clouding their models for political purposes than making full use of the framework. This is the message I gained from Dani Rodrik’s quote 🙂

Michael Lewis:

He thought the cause of the financial crisis was “simple. Greed on both sides—greed of investors and the greed of the bankers.” I thought it was more complicated. Greed on Wall Street was a given—almost an obligation. The problem was the system of incentives that channeled the greed.

Found in the December 2008 portfolio magazine (ht Robbie Allan).