New Ideas from Dead Economists Quotes

“[T]he ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. . . . But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests which are dangerous for good or evil.25”
― Todd Buchholz, New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought

“he embraced only a presumption of laissez-faire. That is, the burden is on the proponent of government to show that the greater happiness requires intervention: "every departure from (laissez-faire), unless required by some great good, is a certain evil.”
― Todd G. Buchholz, New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought

“From 1776 to 1976 just five books reigned over economics in nearly unbroken succession: Smith's Wealth of Nations, Ricardo's Principles, Mill's Principles, Marshall's Principles, and Samuelson's Economics. What they lack in imaginative titles, they make up in endurance.”
― Todd G. Buchholz, New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought

“if the market system had not arisen naturally, it would have been proclaimed the greatest invention in human history. For market competition leads a self-interested person to wake up in the morning, look outside at the earth and produce from its raw materials, not what he wants, but what others want. Not in the quantities he prefers, but in the quantities his neighbors prefer. Not at the price he dreams of charging, but at a price reflecting how much his neighbors value what he has done.”
― Todd G. Buchholz, New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought