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The user of a theory has a simpler task: his not to reason why, his but to sigh and try. If the right element in the diverse situations has been isolated, the theory will work: it will yield predictions better than those which can be reached with any alternative theory.

— George Stigler The Theory of Price (1946)

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More quotes by George Stigler

Regulation may be actively sought by an industry, or it may be thrust upon it.

Unexpected changes, on the contrary, lead to windfall gains or losses for those who are in the right or wrong places at a given time.

The Theory of Price (1946)

Economics, I thus believe, has a useful past, a past that is useful in dealing with the future.

One should hardly have to tell academicians that information is a valuable resource: knowledge is power. And yet this occupies a slum dwelling in the town of economics. Mostly it is ignored.

Footnotes are not an occasional token of respect for an obsolete and purposeless tradition. It will come as a shock to many, I am sure, even to realize that references can be checked.

The Intellectual and the Marketplace (1965)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: George Stigler (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.