Quotes of the day

[Joe] Biden is trying to put lipstick on the Bay of Pigs.--Tom Maguire

What happens when the voter in the exact middle of the earnings spectrum receives more in benefits from Washington than he pays in taxes? Economists Allan Meltzer and Scott Richard posed this question 27 years ago. We may soon enough know the answer.--Paul L. Caron

If Lehman had been saved, a cataclysmic month might have been avoided. But there would still have been a series of minibanking crises. Such death by a thousand cuts — similar to the one suffered by Japan in the 1990s after its bubble burst — would have been less dramatic but might, ultimately, have been more debilitating.--HUGO DIXON and DWIGHT CASS

Economists ought to admit that we do not know much about what is going on today. Neither do the Fed Chairman and the Treasury Secretary. Of course, the market demand is for "strong" leaders and for "strong" economists, who can fool the public into believing that they have great knowledge. The ones who do this best are those who have fooled themselves.--Arnold Kling

Lady, I know I'm in jeans and you're all throwing that scarf around over your suit, but two years of blogging has left me pretty confident that my thought is rigorous. I like being a sleeper, having people underrate me because I dress like a grad student and use small words.--Megan

I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people.--Jose Canseco, on his outing of steroid users

If you played for the Red Sox, you wouldn't be sitting here.--Joba Chamberlain heckler

When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.--Lin Yutang