--- title: "3 Economists Quotes By Nassim Nicholas Taleb" description: "3 Economists quotes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Plus more from Nassim Nicholas Taleb and more Economists sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_about_years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-econ_796573.png" --- > [Years ago, I noticed one thing about economics, and that is that economists didn't get anything right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-economics-and-that-is-that/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_about_years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-econ_796573.png) > [The track record of economists in predicting events is monstrously bad. It is beyond simplification; it is like medieval medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-track-record-of-economists-in-predicting-events-is-monstrously/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/030/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_economics_the-track-record-of-economists-in-predic_1134259.png) > [I've debated many economists who claim to specialize in risk and probability: when one takes them slightly outside their narrow focus, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/i-ve-debated-many-economists-who-claim-to-specialize-in-risk-and/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70d/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_claims_i-ve-debated-many-economists-who-claim-t_1560919.png) ## Other authors on Economists - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-thaler-78929.jpg) Richard Thaler 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/richard-thaler/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-john-kenneth-galbraith-51720.jpg) John Kenneth Galbraith 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/john-kenneth-galbraith/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-piketty-90556.jpg) Thomas Piketty 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/thomas-piketty/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-hajoon-chang-40025.jpg) Ha-Joon Chang 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/ha-joon-chang/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-aretaeus-of-cappadocia-14539.jpg) Adam Davidson 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/adam-davidson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-john-maynard-keynes-51905.jpg) John Maynard Keynes 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/john-maynard-keynes/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-tim-harford-90885.jpg) Tim Harford 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/tim-harford/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-ronald-coase-81073.jpg) Ronald Coase 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/ronald-coase/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-paul-krugman-74013.jpg) Paul Krugman 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/paul-krugman/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-ludwig-von-mises-61872.jpg) Ludwig von Mises 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/ludwig-von-mises/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-kenneth-e-boulding-56467.jpg) Kenneth E. Boulding 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/kenneth-e-boulding/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [You know, children philosophize more than adults - and they are critical of adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/you-know-children-philosophize-more-than-adults-and-they-are-critical/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“One needs to go out and buy a lottery ticket in order to win. Does it mean that the work involved in the trip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/one-needs-to-go-out-and-buy-a-lottery-ticket-in-order-to-win-does-it/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/individuals-should-think-about-the-worst-case-scenarios-and-plan-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“If you are looking for your misplaced wallet in your living room, in a trial and error mode, you exercise rationality by not looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-are-looking-for-your-misplaced-wallet-in-your-living-room-in-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/most-humans-manage-to-squander-their-free-time-as-free-time-makes/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-learn-the-most-from-fools-yet-we-pay-them-back-with-the-worst/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are victims of the post-Enlightenment view that the world functions like a sophisticated machine, to be understood like a textbook engineering problem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-are-victims-of-the-post-enlightenment-view-that-the-world/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“loss of bone density and degradation of the health of the bones also causes aging, diabetes, and, for males, loss of fertility and sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/loss-of-bone-density-and-degradation-of-the-health-of-the-bones-also/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It takes a huge investment in introspection to learn that the thirty or more hours spent “studying” the news last month neither had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-takes-a-huge-investment-in-introspection-to-learn-that-the-thirty/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/nassim-nicholas-taleb/#itemlist", "name": "3 Economists Quotes By Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Years ago, I noticed one thing about economics, and that is that economists didn't get anything right.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-economics-and-that-is-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_about_years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-econ_796573.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_about_years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-econ_796573.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_about_years-ago-i-noticed-one-thing-about-econ_796573.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Years ago, I noticed one thing about economics, and that is that economists didn't get anything right.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The track record of economists in predicting events is monstrously bad. 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