249 Quotes by James Surowiecki

The typical American corporation is a shareholders' republic the same way that China is a peoples' republic.

Of course, plenty of people don't think that guaranteeing affordable health insurance is a core responsibility of government.

Life insurance became popular only when insurance companies stopped emphasizing it as a good investment and sold it instead as a symbolic commitment by fathers to the future well-being of their families.

Procrastination also can be a way of self-handicapping: if you don't do a great job, you can always say to yourself, "If I'd only started sooner, I'd have been able to produce something excellent."

It may be that the very qualities that help people get ahead are the ones that make them ill-suited for managing crises. It's hard to prepare for the worst when you think you're the best.

Of course, presidents are always blamed or rewarded for the state of the economy.

As technology improves, on-screen avatars look more and more like real people. When they start looking too real, though, we pull away. These almost-humans aren't quite right; they look creepy, like zombies.

On Wall Street, fraudulent schemes tend to thrive during economic booms, and to blow up when times turn tough.

All things being equal, letting people make decisions for themselves will produce smarter outcomes, collectively, than relying on government planners.