Pete's Blog

"If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion." –George Bernard Shaw

American President Harry Truman said that he wanted to find a one-armed economist. Economics is fundamentally the study of tradeoffs. Do you spend your whole paycheque, or only part of it and invest the rest for your future? Do you make enough guns to win the war against the neighbouring country, or do you make plows so you can feed your people?

Economists see the advantages and disadvantages to decisions being made, so they (supposedly) talk endlessly about alternatives.

"On the one hand, Mr. Oppressive-Totalitarian-Dictator, if you don't make enough guns, you'll be conquered by your enemy. But on the other hand, if you don't make the plows, you won't be able to harvest enough grain in the coming years, your people will starve, and you'll have no people to oppress."