Edward C. Prescott

Economists create their own worlds. We're like little gods with our artificial economics, wanting to see what happens. ”

Monetary policy causes booms and busts. ”

The money is nice, but I am not in this game for the money. ”

The Chinese are saving like mad, but they are not getting a very good return on their savings. ”

Of all the thankless jobs that economists set for themselves when it comes to educating people about economics, the notion that society is better off if some industries are allowed to wither, their workers lose their jobs, and investors lose their capital - all in the name of the greater glory of globalization - surely ranks near the top. ”

In the Great Depression, employment and investment were low because labor market institutions and industrial polices changed. ”

I love creating models and coming up with explicit structures I can play with. ”

Multinational companies use their technological know-how in their foreign subsidiaries, so reciprocal multinational relationships are key - they lead to a vested interest in both countries to remaining open. ”

There is an old maxim which states that good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment. I think something similar can be said of government policy, to wit: Good policy comes from experience, and experience comes from poor policy. ”

After World War II, there were a lot of pension funds in Europe that were fully funded, but they were pressured to hold a lot of government debt. There was a lot of inflation, and the value of all those assets fell. Those pension funds couldn't honor their promises to the people. ”