159 Quotes by Paul Samuelson

Economics never was a dismal science. I should be a realistic science.

To prove that Wall Street is an early omen of movements still to come in GNP, commentators quote economic studies alleging that market downturns predicted four out of the last five recessions. That is an understatement. Wall Street indexes predicted nine out of the last five recessions! And its mistakes were beauties.

Suppose it was demonstrated that one out of twenty alcoholics could learn to become a moderate social drinker. The experienced clinician would answer, 'Even if true, act as if it were false, for you will never identify that one in twenty, and in the attempt five in twenty will be ruined.' Investors should forsake the search for such tiny needles in huge haystacks.

Kelsoism is not accepted by modern scientific economics as a valid and fruitful analysis of the distribution of income but rather it is regarded as an amateurish and cranky fad.

Macroeconomics, even with all of our computers and with all of our information. is not an exact science and is incapable of being an exact science.

I don't care who writes a nation's laws-or crafts its advanced treaties-if I can write its economics textbooks

Good questions outrank easy answers.

I don’t care who writes a nation’s laws-or crafts its advanced treaties-if I can write its economics textbooks.

Economics has never been a science – and it is even less now than a few years ago.