John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith, OCwas a Canadianeconomist, public official, and diplomat, and a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the 2000s, during which time Galbraith fulfilled the role of public intellectual. As an economist, he leaned toward Post-Keynesian economics from an institutionalist perspective...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth15 October 1908
CountryUnited States of America
In central banking as in diplomacy, style, conservative tailoring, and an easy association with the affluent count greatly and results far much less.
Financial operations do not lend themselves to innovation. What is recurrently so described and celebrated is, without exception, a small variation on an established design . . . The world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version.
Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed. In the absence of new developments, old ones may seem very impressive for quite a long while.
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.
If there must be madness, something may be said for having it on a heroic scale
One of my greatest pleasures in my writing has come from the thought that perhaps my work might annoy someone of comfortably pretentious position. Then comes the realization that such people rarely read.
Originality is something that is easily exaggerated, especially by authors contemplating their own work.
Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are not missed.
Some things were never meant to be recycled.
The world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version.
Those who yearn for the end of capitalism should pray for government by men who believe that all positive action is inimical to what they call thoughtfully the fundamental principles of free enterprise.
American university presidents are a nervous breed; I have never thought well of them as a class.
It is possible that people need to believe they are unmanaged if they are to be managed effectively.
Foreign policy is conducted for the convenience and enjoyment of people in Washington.