Dani Rodrik

The economics we need is of the "seminar room" variety, not the "rule-of-thumb" kind. It is an economics that recognizes its limitations and caveats and knows that the right message depends on the context. The fine print is what economists have to contribute.

If economics were only about profit maximization, it would be just another name for business administration. It is a social discipline, and society has other means of cost accounting besides market prices.

The world is better served by syncretic economists and policymakers who can hold multiple ideas in their heads than by __ne-handed_ economists who promote one big idea regardless of context.