49 quotes
Perhaps as important is the relation between the existence of solutions to a competitive equilibrium and the problems of normative or welfare economics.
Collective action is a means of power, a means by which individuals can more fully realize their individual values.
The Limits Of Organization (1974)
As is by now well known, attempts to form social judgments by aggregating individual expressed preferences always lead to the possibility of paradox.
The Limits Of Organization (1974)
The aim of achieving an equal distribution of political power requires a restriction on the inequalities of wealth and income.
The purpose of organizations is to exploit the fact that many (virtually all) decisions require the participation of many individuals for their effectiveness.
The Limits Of Organization (1974)
Uncertainty means that we do not have a complete description of the world which we fully believe to be true.
The Limits Of Organization (1974)
In any case the empirical evidence can only be made meaningful with at least a minimum of theoretical analysis.
Certainly, there is no general principle that prevents the creation of an economic theory based on other hypotheses than that of rationality.
I am old-fashioned enough to retain David Hume’s view that one can never derive “ought” propositions from “is” propositions. The two issues, method and value, are distinct.
Studying oneself is not the most comfortable of enterprises. One is caught between the desire to show oneself in the best possible light and the fear of claiming more than one’s due.
Even Ricardo's most famous accomplishment, the law of comparative advantage in foreign trade, is incomplete, though not wrong.
The concept of rationality used throughout this study is at the heart of modern economic analysis, and it cannot be denied that it has great intuitive appeal; but closer analysis reveals difficulties.
Social Choice and Individual Values (1951)
As we see it, a choice is not something you do today in isolation; it is part of a plan that includes some choices to be made in the future.
Government economic policy, like almost any realistic decision problem, has two fundamental characteristics: it is sequential and it is uncertain.
To put it another way, if we assume everybody should count equally, then there is no method of voting which will avoid some possibility of violating the rules.
Krugman's whole attack is directed at a statement made neither by Arthur nor by Cassidy. Krugman has not read Cassidy's piece with any care nor has he bothered to review what Arthur has in fact said.
Kenneth J. Arrow (1998)
If the markets for durable goods are peculiarly sensitive to price anticipations, while those for perishable goods are more sensitive to current prices, then there is a little more scope for explaining economic fluctuations.
It is this thinking which I think gives rise to the greatest tragedies of history, this sense of commitment to a past purpose which reinforces the original agreement precisely at a time when experience has shown that it must be reversed.
The Limits Of Organization (1974)
L. Walras first formulated the state of the economic system at any point of time as the solution of a system of simultaneous equations representing the demand for goods by consumers, the supply of goods by producers and the equilibrium condition that supply equal demand on every market.
In eras when authority or at least specific authorities have been questioned, there is more tendency to examine the roots of and the need for authority. The owl of Minerva flies not in the dusk but in the storm.
The Limits Of Organization (1974)