Quote of the Day for 2016-09-06

"If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn't go and look at horses. They'd sit in their studies and say to themselves, 'what would I do if I were a horse?'"

— Ely Devons (1913-1967) Quoted by Ronald Coase in a speech before the International Society of New Institutional Economics in Washington, D.C. (September 17, 1999)

Cover illustration of Jugend magazine by Heinrich Kley (January 29, 1910)

Quote of the Day for 2016-03-25

"Even today—in blithe disregard of his actual philosophy—Smith is generally regarded as a conservative economist, whereas in fact, he was more avowedly hostile to the motives of businessmen than most New Deal economists."

— Robert Heilbroner (1919-2005) The Worldly Philosophers, chapter 3

The Author of the Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) by John Kay (1790)