James Surowiecki

“Downsizing itself is an inevitable part of any creatively destructive economy.”

“In industries where a lot of competitors are selling the same product - mangoes, gasoline, DVD players - price is the easiest way to distinguish yourself. The hope is that if you cut prices...”

“The fact that industries wax and wane is a reality of any economic system that wants to remain dynamic and responsive to people's changing tastes.”

“Popular as Keynesian fiscal policy may be, many economists are skeptical that it works. They argue that fine-tuning the economy is a virtually impossible task, and that fiscal-stimulus progr...”

“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote cont...”

“Life insurance became popular only when insurance companies stopped emphasizing it as a good investment and sold it instead as a symbolic commitment by fathers to the future well-being of th...”

“Being out of a job can erode people's confidence and their sense of possibility; and employers, often unfairly, tend to take long-term unemployment as a signal that something is wrong.”

“From a social point of view, it's beneficial that homeownership encourages commitment to a given town or city. But, from an economic point of view, it's good for people to be able to leave p...”

“What an economy really wants, after all, is not more investment per se but better investment. It wants capital to flow to companies that will create value - not in the form of a rising stock...”

“Patrimonial capitalism's legacy is that many people see reform as a euphemism for corruption and self-dealing.”

“Flexible supply chains are great for multinationals and consumers. But they erode already thin profit margins in developing-world factories and foster a pell-mell work environment in which g...”

“Steve Jobs was rare: a C.E.O. who actually had a huge impact on his company's fortunes. Contrary to corporate mythology, most C.E.O.s could be easily replaced, if not by your average Joe, th...”

“On Wall Street, fraudulent schemes tend to thrive during economic booms, and to blow up when times turn tough.”

“If we want our regulators to do better, we have to embrace a simple idea: regulation isn't an obstacle to thriving free markets; it's a vital part of them.”

“Moviegoers love the intricacies of a crime all the more when it's for a good cause.”

“We assume that good-looking people are smarter and more effective than they really are, and that homely people are the reverse.”

“Unlike most government programs, Social Security and, in part, Medicare are funded by payroll taxes dedicated specifically to them. Some of the tax revenue pays for current benefits; anythin...”

“Since the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland wants to remain a part of Great Britain, and since Ireland itself has shown little interest in reunification, the IRA's prospects for succes...”

“Wall Street has come a long way from the insider-dominated world that was blown apart by the Great Depression.”

“Of course, plenty of people don't think that guaranteeing affordable health insurance is a core responsibility of government.”