In short both the things we feel we need and the things available for us to buy depend largely—beyond some point, almost entirely—on the things that others choose to buy. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
If the search is for examples that contradict the predictions of standard economic models, a good rule of thumb is to start in France. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
When people bump up against one another in the course of pursuing their goals, it is in everyone's interest to resolve any resulting problems… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
It is no exaggeration to say that rising inequality has driven many of the 99 percent into a financial ditch. It also helped spawn… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
We could curtail private spending by several trillion dollars a year without requiring painful sacrifices from anyone. That would be more than enough to… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
The most glaring deficiency in traditional economic models is that they completely ignore the role of context in evaluation. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Adam Smith's uncritically enthusiastic modern disciples portray his invisible hand theory as saying that market forces reliably harness selfish individuals to serve the common… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Trusting others puts us at risk. Yet failure to trust entails risk as well. The ability to navigate through this minefield successfully is one… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Rising inequality hasn't really accomplished anything of value for its ostensible beneficiaries, the top one percent. They've all built bigger mansions and staged more… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
As economists have long noted, the puzzle is not that so few people vote, it's that so many do. After all, no individual's vote… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Pass down values every day through your actions, your words and your time with your kids. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
When the rich build bigger, they shift the frame of reference that shapes the demands of the near rich, who travel in the same… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
If top marginal income tax rates are set too high, they discourage productive economic activity. In the limit, a top marginal income tax rate… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
For the three decades after WWII, incomes grew at about 3 percent a year for people up and down the income ladder, but since… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
“Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
