Quotes of the day

I may be estranged from my former thesis adviser, Robert Solow, in other ways, but here I agree with him that: (a) you probably need sociology to explain sticky wages and unemployment; but (b) it's not an economist's comparative advantage to pursue it.--Arnold Kling

Markets are complicated things that rest on a mixture of law, custom, and individual action. There is no libertarian state of nature in which human beings survived without some form of coercively enforced rules. All libertarianism can do is maximize the scope for individual action within that framework.--Megan McArdle

Beware any politician who promises to create new jobs.--Jacob Sullum

No. I'm trying to save the system, and the main thing we need is less reckless lending. Your position is that we need more credit to solve problems of debt.--John Carney, to Felix Salmon

I have no idea where you get this idea that the market has a clear idea of how solvent banks are. It doesn't. It does, however, have a clear idea of what any given bank's borrowing costs are. That's a liquidity issue, but it's used as a proxy for solvency, precisely because no one knows what the real solvency situation is.--Felix Salmon, back at John Carney

The richest vein I have seen is two guys/gals who want to create a tool that they themselves want to use. This describes, for example, Google, Yahoo and Apple. I have come to believe that almost everyone has the entrepreneurial gene — it’s been necessary for survival for thousands of years. ... The issue is whether that gene is expressed, and the only way to really “know” is with retroactive, after-the-fact analysis. Unfortunately, venture capital doesn’t work this way. You take your best shot and pray — then you thank God if you’re right a few times.--Guy Kawasaki

That someone in [Erwin] Chemerinsky's position would pre-emptively react with personal attacks on a judge who has kicked off such a debate suggests he knows that the advocates of politicized pro bono will have much to be defensive about.--Walter Olson

Dear everyone who’s ever thought of starting an NGO: Don’t do it. You’re not going to think of a solution no one else has, your approach is not as innovative as you think it is, and raising money is going to be impossible. You will have no economy of scale, your overhead will be disproportionately high, and adding one more tiny NGO to the overburdened international system may well make things worse instead of better.--Alanna Shaikh

I play her bubble-headed too when I imitate her.--Sarah Palin, on Tina Fey

It gives us an opportunity to actually see the ball on the ground, kick the ball and have another shot at it.--Adam Vinatieri, on icing the kicker

Obviously, a lot of those sacks aren’t on [the offensive line], they’re on me. That’s just something I’m getting a little more used to as I go forward.--Matt Cassell

I regret the fact that after one misstep, I let them pile on. They don't have a reason to stop if you don't correct them.--Darryl Strawberry