Quotes from Henry Hazlitt

Los economistas clásicos, al refutar los errores de su tiempo, mostraron que la política del ahorro, orientada en interés del individuo, sirve al propio tiempo el de la comunidad. Indicaban que el ahorrador consciente, al preocuparse de su propio futuro, no perjudicaba, sino que ayudaba a la sociedad.

But the tragedy is that, on the contrary, we are already suffering the long-run consequences of the policies of the remote or recent past. Today is already the tomorrow which the bad economist yesterday urged us to ignore

Though some of them would disdain to say that there are net benefits in small acts of destruction, they see almost endless benefits in enormous acts of destruction

Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas

si el Gobierno fija aranceles a la importación de productos, simplemente estará orientado la economía a producir de manera ineficiente unos bienes y servicios que están disponibles más baratos en el extranjero, perjudicando a gran cantidad de empresarios internos cuya demanda desaparecerá

Lo que en la conducta de cualquier familia es prudencia —afirmaba el recio sentido común de Adam Smith, replicando a los sofistas de su tiempo— difícilmente puede ser locura en el gobierno de un gran reino.»

The natural consequence of a thoroughgoing over-all price control which seeks to perpetuate a given historic price level, in brief, must ultimately be a completely regimented economy.

un poco de filosofía inclina la mente humana al ateísmo, pero una filosofía profunda le conduce a la religión».

This is only another way of saying that the government lenders will take risks with other people's money (the taxpayers') that private lenders will not take with their own money.

There is first of all a misunderstanding of what it is that has been causing prices to rise. The real cause is either a scarcity of goods or a surplus of money.

Por consiguiente, en el mejor de los casos, la consecuencia de fijar un precio máximo a un artículo determinado será provocar su escasez. Esto es precisamente lo contrario de lo que los gobernantes pretendían, pues precisamente los artículos objeto de tasa son los que más desean mantener en abundante oferta.

las intervenciones de los gobiernos sólo tienen en cuenta las consecuencias que saltan a la vista, pero ignoran las que no se ven

The proposal for government loans to private individuals or projects, in brief, sees B and forgets A. It sees the people into whose hands the capital is put; it forgets those who would otherwise have had it. It sees the project to which capital is granted; it forgets the projects from which capital is thereby withheld. It sees the immediate benefit to one group; it overlooks the losses to other groups, and the net loss to the community as a whole.

When a corporation loses a hundred cents of every dollar it loses, and is permitted to keep only fifty-two cents of every dollar it gains, and when it cannot adequately offset its years of losses against its years of gains, its policies are affected. It does not expand its operations, or it expands only those attended with a minimum of risk. People who recognize this situation are deterred from starting new enterprises.

O dia de hoje já é o amanhã que os maus economistas, ontem, nos aconselharam a ignorar.

Be of good heart: be of good spirit. If the battle is not yet won, it is not yet lost either.

Cuando el gobierno subvenciona o concede anticipos, en realidad grava negocios privados prósperos para auxiliar ruinosos negocios privados.

No hay límite al trabajo por hacer, mientras haya necesidad o deseos humanos insatisfechos, que el trabajo pueda atender.

En todos los países, el interés de la inmensa mayoría de la población es y debe ser siempre comprar lo que necesita a quien vende más barato.» «El supuesto es tan evidente —continuaba Smith— que esforzarnos en demostrarlo podría parecer ridículo; nunca habría sido puesto en duda si las interesadas falacias de mercaderes y fabricantes no hubieran perturbado el sentido común de la humanidad.»

no cabe distribuir más riqueza que la creada; no es posible, a la larga, pagar al conjunto de la mano de obra más de lo que produce.

To think at all requires a purpose, no matter how vague. The best thinking, however, requires a definite purpose, and the more definite this purpose the more definite will be our thinking. Therefore in taking up any special line of thought, we must first find just what our end or purpose is, and thus get clearly in mind what our problems are.

It is almost possible to sum up the whole process of thinking as the occurrence of suggestions for the solution of difficulties and the testing out of those suggestions. The suggestions or suppositions are tested by observation,memory, experiment.

When Alexander the Great visited the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: "Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun.

In all experiments one must exercise ingenuity in finding other causes besides the one to be studied which may possibly influence a result, and in eliminating these.