Herb Stein's Unfamiliar Quotations
On money, madness, and making mistakes.
Three percent exceeds 2 percent by 50 percent, not by 1 percent.
--Edward Denison, in conversation, about 1960
An obvious point, but one that is important--and commonly overlooked--in discussions of economic growth.
Observe how he has made a breast of his back.
In life he wished to see too far before him,
And now he must crab backwards round this track.
--Dante Alighieri, TheInferno (Canto XX, Circle Eight--The Fortune Tellers and Diviners), early 14th century
This is Dante's vision of the fate of economic and political forecasters.
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
--T.S. Eliot, The Rock, 1934
Who Said It: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford or Simpsons Mayor Diamond Joe Quimby?
Is Wal-Mart in Trouble? Is Amazon to Blame?
Is Your State Bird a Stupid State Bird? What It Should Be Instead.
Herbert Stein, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Nixon and Ford. He died in September 1999.