36 Quotes by Ronald Coase

We must first note that economic factors are taken into account in a world in which ignorance, prejudice, and mental confusion, encouraged rather than dispelled by the political organization, exert a strong influence on policy making.

Existing economics is a theoretical system which floats in the air and which bears little relation to what happens in the real world.

In fact, a large part of what we think of as economic activity is designed to accomplish what high transaction costs would otherwise prevent or to reduce transaction costs so that individuals can negotiate freely and we can take advantage of that diffused knowledge of which Friedrich Hayek has told us.

Data can't speak for itself; it's up to you to give it a voice. Try to speak truthfully.

Economics, over the years, has become more and more abstract and divorced from events in the real world. Economists, by and large, do not study the workings of the actual economic system. They theorize about it. As Ely Devons, an English economist, once said in a meeting: 'If economists wanted to study the horse, they wouldn't go around and look at horses. They'd sit in their studies and say to themselves, `What would I do if I were a horse?' '

If you torture the data long enough, it will confess.

I can't remember [of a good regulation]. Regulation of transport, regulation of agriculture — agriculture is a, zoning is z. You know, you go from a to z, they are all bad. There were so many studies, and the result was quite universal: The effects were bad

Data can’t speak for itself; it’s up to you to give it a voice. Try to speak truthfully.

I hate when people ask me to: “Massage the data”.