Angus Deaton

I really don't think we've become a plutocracy, but I worry about the enormous influence that money has in a democracy such as ours. ”

Despite broad public support, raising the minimum wage is always difficult owing to the disproportionate influence that wealthy firms and donors have in Congress. ”

Businesses have moved from doing business to doing lobbying, and I think that's a very bad thing. ”

The call to rein in globalization reflects a belief that it has eliminated jobs in the West, sending them East and South. But the biggest threat to traditional jobs is not Chinese or Mexican; it is a robot. ”

You accumulate emotional wisdom as you get older. You know, when you're 25, you go on blind dates with people that, when you're 50, you know to stay away from. ”

In the high-income English-speaking world, the elderly get treated very well indeed. ”

I didn't care for school much - it was very strict, corporal punishment in the form of the 'tawse' was common and unpredictable, and I was often afraid - but I believe that I did well enough; indeed, my mother always regretted that I had not stayed long enough to become the 'dux,' as the best pupil was called. ”

My work on happiness is the only thing I've ever done where I've heard people in the supermarket talking about it, for instance. ”

Growth does not bring any 'automatic' improvement in the health component of wellbeing. ”

The first thing we need to understand when we think about globalization is that it has benefited an enormous number of people who are not part of the global elite. ”