“The idea of confidence, of the emotions of the population, is an incredibly important one in economics. John Maynard Keynes called it 'animal spirit.' And if people are feeling generally good about the future, they're more likely to spend money, to start new companies; companies are more likely to hire people, make investments.”
“A majority of Americans support Social Security and Medicare, a progressive tax system and a government that regulates business in the public interest, but most share deep skepticism about the government's ability to do all this well.”
“The world I want to live in is a world where everybody is a bit more uncertain about their arguments and is a bit more open to other people's arguments. I think that we can engage ideas without ad hominem attacks.”
“The economics profession advances by one confusing financial disaster at a time.”
“Art is often valuable precisely because it isn't a sensible way to make money.”
“If your business is really easy to do, don't gloat. You might be out of a job soon.”
“The so-called skills gap is really a gap in education, and that affects all of us.”
“Happiness quantification sounds a bit wishy-washy, sure, and through a series of carefully administered surveys across the globe, economists and psychologists have certainly confronted a fair number of sticky issues around how to measure, and even define, happiness.”
“Most rich countries have reported increases in happiness as they become richer.”
“The Internet is, among other things, a massive, chaotic marketplace. Too much information, it turns out, is a lot like no information.”