James Surowiecki

Capitalism, after all, is no fun when real failure becomes a possibility.

— James Surowiecki

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

— James Surowiecki

In order to work well, markets need a basic level of trust.

— James Surowiecki

In American politics, 'Europe' is usually a code word for 'big government.'

— James Surowiecki

Companies, like people, don't much like to change.

— James Surowiecki

The history of the Internet is, in part, a series of opportunities missed...

— James Surowiecki

Movies' mistrust of capitalism is almost as old as the medium itself.

— James Surowiecki

Of course, presidents are always blamed or rewarded for the state of the economy.

— James Surowiecki

Most of the work on multitasking suggests that it generally makes you less efficient, not more.

— James Surowiecki

Paradoxically, the best way for a group to be smart is for each person in it to think and act as independently…

— James Surowiecki

The U.S. is excellent at importing cheap products from the rest of the world. Let's try importing some human capital instead.

— James Surowiecki

The problem is that groups are only smart when the people in them are as independent as possible. This is the paradox…

— James Surowiecki

Real politics is messy and morally ambiguous and doesn't make for a compelling thriller.

— James Surowiecki

Besides great climates and lovely beaches, California and Greece share a fondness for dysfunctional politics and feckless budgeting.

— James Surowiecki

In conditions of uncertainty, humans, like other animals, herd together for protection.

— James Surowiecki

The profit motive, indecorous though it may seem, may represent the best chance the poor have to reap some of globalization's benefits.

— James Surowiecki

Punk rock has never really had much patience with musical virtuosity. Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that for most of…

— James Surowiecki

Behavioral economists have shown that a sizable percentage of people are willing to pay real money to punish people who are taking…

— James Surowiecki

Nike used to be known as Blue Ribbon Sports. What's now Sara Lee used to be Consolidated Foods. And Exxon was once…

— James Surowiecki

If army ants are wandering around and they get lost, they start to follow a simple rule:Just do what the ant in…

— James Surowiecki

Popular as Keynesian fiscal policy may be, many economists are skeptical that it works. They argue that fine-tuning the economy is a…

— James Surowiecki

For a crowd to be smart, the people in it need to be not only diverse in their perspectives but also, relatively…

— James Surowiecki

Unlike most government programs, Social Security and, in part, Medicare are funded by payroll taxes dedicated specifically to them. Some of the…

— James Surowiecki

The smartest groups, then, are made up of people with diverse perspectives who are able to stay independent of each other. Independence…

— James Surowiecki

Self-dealing, essentially, occurs when managers run companies to line their own pockets instead of those of the companies' owners. It's been a…

— James Surowiecki

Companies have long gathered data to break down their customer base into specific segments. Now political parties have become adept at micro-targeting,…

— James Surowiecki

Auto repair, piloting, skiing, perhaps even management: these are skills that yield to application, hard work, and native talent. But forecasting an…

— James Surowiecki

Disasters redistribute money from taxpayers to construction workers, from insurance companies to homeowners, and even from those who once lived in the…

— James Surowiecki

There are lots of people who believe there may be at least some genetic component to procrastination, and even if there isn't,…

— James Surowiecki

The essence of procrastination lies in not doing what you think you should be doing, a mental contortion that surely accounts for…

— James Surowiecki

When Americans are asked to rank professions in terms of honesty and ethics, insurance agents routinely end up near the bottom of…

— James Surowiecki

The fact that cognitive diversity matters does not mean that if you assemble a group of diverse but thoroughly uninformed people, their…

— James Surowiecki

Breaking tasks down into smaller sub-tasks can be very useful.

— James Surowiecki

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

— James Surowiecki

There's no debt limit in the Constitution.

— James Surowiecki

The business of America shouldn't be subsidizing business.

— James Surowiecki

Sometimes even a smart crowd will make a mistake.

— James Surowiecki

Republicans like to indict Democrats as anti-corporate zealots.

— James Surowiecki

Corporate welfare isn't necessarily a bad thing.

— James Surowiecki

Sometimes you have to destroy your business in order to save it.

— James Surowiecki