Quotes from Joan Robinson

The first essential for economists ... is to ... combat, not foster, the ideology which pretends that values which can be measured in terms of money are the only ones that ought to count.

owning capital is not a productive activity.

It is impossible to add the stock of money to the flow of saving.

The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.

The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.

I never learned maths, so I had to think

If there is any law governing the distribution of income between classes, it still remains to be discovered.

The purpose of studying economics is to learn how not to be deceived by economists.

The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all.

In some ways the most striking novelty in Keynesian doctrine was that (abstracting from effects on foreign trade) an all-round reduction in wages would not reduce unemployment and (introducing Kalecki's elaboration) would actually be likely to increase it. [p. 129]

Indeed, on a high plane of generality there is nothing very much for economic theory to say to the planner, except: Do not listen to those who say you want this rather than that — agriculture, not industry; exports, not home production; light industry, not heavy. You always want both. [p. 113]

The nature of technology depends very much upon what the public can be induced to put up with.

Where is the pricing system that offers the consumer a fair choice between air to breathe and motor cars to drive about in?