I'll see your Milton Friedman and raise you four John Kenneth Galbraiths

Economic swordsmanship is sexy

John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian born, Harvard professor, economist, advisor to President Kennedy, speechwriter for Adlai Stevenson. In the 20th century whenever something interesting was being done in the world of economics or public policy Galbraith was never too far away if he wasn't in the centre of things.

Of all intellectuals and public policy people I can't decide whether it is Keynes or Galbraith I like most.

Here are some JKG quotes from Wiki-quote (I went there to remind myself where I pulled a quote from):

Relevant for the these days of economic 'bailouts' and the nitpicking debates.

In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. If the world is lucky enough to enjoy peace, it may even one day make the discovery, to the horror of doctrinaire free-enterprisers and doctrinaire planners alike, that what is called capitalism and what is called socialism are both capable of working quite well. "The American Economy: Its Substance and Myth," quoted in Years of the Modern (1949), ed. J.W. Chase

A great response to the so-called 9/11 paradigm shift. The principle holds even if he was speaking specifically about economic models.

When you see reference to a new paradigm you should always, under all circumstances, take cover. Because ever since the great tulipmania in 1637, speculation has always been covered by a new paradigm. There was never a paradigm so new and so wonderful as the one that covered John Law and the South Sea Bubble — until the day of disaster. Quoted in Ben Laurance and William Keegan, "Galbraith on crashes, Japan and Walking Sticks", The Observer (1998-06-21)

A note to the doctrinaire left and, especially these days, the doctrinaire right. When you have 15 million children starving to death annually and a billion people hungry you should be looking for economies and public policies that work. To be deaf to the cries of the poor in order to keep your cherished beliefs from being contradicted is cruel.

I react to what is necessary. I would like to eschew any formula. There are some things where the government is absolutely inevitable, which we cannot get along without comprehensive state action. But there are many things — producing consumer goods, producing a wide range of entertainment, producing a wide level of cultural activity — where the market system, which independent activity is also important, so I react pragmatically. Where the market works, I'm for that. Where the government is necessary, I'm for that. I'm deeply suspicious of somebody who says, "I'm in favor of privatization," or, "I'm deeply in favor of public ownership." I'm in favor of whatever works in the particular case. from Bookends interview with Brian Lamb (1994)

From Age of Uncertainty (1977). This is one of my favourite quotes from a book that is almost completely quotable.

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.

A bonus quote from Money: Whence it came and Where it went. The first Galbraith book I read with chapters on John Law, coin sweating, gold standards, and paper money. It also has the best summary of American attitudes towards government and policy.

It is well-known that Americans are opposed to taxation without representation. It is equally true that Americans are also opposed to taxation with representation.

xo

MVL