---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All economists should be locked up until…"
description: "\"All economists should be locked up until they admit that they don't know what they're talking about.\" — Andy Rooney"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png"
---

#  All economists should be locked up until they admit that…

![“All economists should be locked up until they admit that they don't know what they're talking about.” quote by Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png)

> “All economists should be locked up until they admit that they don't know what they're talking about.”

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Economists often claim certainty despite complex uncertainty, suggesting humility is needed.

**In simple terms:** Economists overstate certainty.

Key Takeaway

Demand humility and transparency in economic claims.

Themes

humility uncertainty expertise public discourse

Mood

skeptical critical

Type

satirical commentary

When to use this quote

- policy making
- financial advising
- public debates
- education curricula

Key Concepts

economics philosophy media criticism

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we balance expertise with humility?
- When should we trust economic forecasts?

A Different Perspective

Economic predictions can still be useful despite uncertainty.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economist/) [Economists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/)

## Related quotes

> [A great many people do not have the right to their own opinion because they don't know what they are talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/a-great-many-people-do-not-have-the-right-to-their-own-opinion/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [A children's author on a soapbox is not a pleasant sight but I have become drawn into issues, slightly unwillingly, relating to young people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/a-children-s-author-on-a-soapbox-is-not-a-pleasant-sight-but-i-have/)

[Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/)

> [If you want to act like a butthead, your butt is going to get locked up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-nutter/if-you-want-to-act-like-a-butthead-your-butt-is-going-to-get-locked-up/)

[Michael Nutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-nutter/)

> [I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,--if ten honest men only,--ay, if one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-know-this-well-that-if-one-thousand-if-one-hundred-if-ten-men-whom/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Bad behaviour makes men more glamorous. Women get destroyed, thrown out of society and locked up in institutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-faithfull/bad-behaviour-makes-men-more-glamorous-women-get-destroyed-thrown-out/)

[Marianne Faithfull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-faithfull/)

> [They weren't crazy. They were tired of being locked up. Even I could see that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/they-weren-t-crazy-they-were-tired-of-being-locked-up-even-i-could/)

[Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/)

> [The dominant male is history. Could you see a male Lady Gaga? The closest we've got is Justin Bieber, who'd be locked up if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-odell/the-dominant-male-is-history-could-you-see-a-male-lady-gaga-the/)

[Tom Odell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-odell/)

> [The mythology around colorblindness leads people to imagine that if poor kids of color are failing or getting locked up in large numbers, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mythology-around-colorblindness-leads-people-to-imagine-that-if/)

[Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/)

> [Who knows where I would be if I didn't come to L.A. I probably would have been locked up or dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-leto/who-knows-where-i-would-be-if-i-didn-t-come-to-l-a-i-probably-would/)

[Shannon Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-leto/)

> [I had gone to jail, but I wasn't gettin' locked up for drugs then. I was gettin' locked up for guns. My moms kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-notorious-b-i-g/i-had-gone-to-jail-but-i-wasn-t-gettin-locked-up-for-drugs-then-i-was/)

[The Notorious B.I.G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-notorious-b-i-g/)

> [What we, thanks to Jung, call "synchronicity" (coincidence on steroids), Buddhists have long known as "the interpenetration of realities." Whether it's a natural law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/what-we-thanks-to-jung-call-synchronicity-coincidence-on-steroids/)

[Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/)

> [51 years ago, when Hillary Clinton was working on the Goldwater campaign, Bernie Sanders was getting locked up for my rights. 50 years later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killer-mike/51-years-ago-when-hillary-clinton-was-working-on-the-goldwater/)

[Killer Mike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killer-mike/)

> [Genius, whether locked up in a cell or roaming at large, is always solitary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/genius-whether-locked-up-in-a-cell-or-roaming-at-large-is-always/)

[George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/)

> [Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/though-i-can-t-change-what-happened-i-can-choose-how-to-react-and-i/)

[Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/)

> [I'm just some irritating, lying, ginger kid from Cornwall who should have been locked up in some youth detention centre. I just managed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aphex-twin/i-m-just-some-irritating-lying-ginger-kid-from-cornwall-who-should/)

[Aphex Twin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aphex-twin/)

## More by Andy Rooney

> [I like Valentine's Day. The trouble is the florists and the candy-makers and the card people are all advertising so much, you don't dare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/i-like-valentine-s-day-the-trouble-is-the-florists-and-the-candy/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [Almost all of us have an elevator or two in our lives somewhere. We wait for them, we ride on them. We're annoyed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/almost-all-of-us-have-an-elevator-or-two-in-our-lives-somewhere-we/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [Last night we had three small zucchini for dinner that were grown within fifty feet of our back door. I estimate they cost somewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/last-night-we-had-three-small-zucchini-for-dinner-that-were-grown/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [Sooner or later the world will have to return to the good old days when we fought wars and killed people the old-fashioned way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/sooner-or-later-the-world-will-have-to-return-to-the-good-old-days/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [I've learned that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/i-ve-learned-that-no-matter-how-serious-your-life-requires-you-to-be/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [Unfortunately, propaganda works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/unfortunately-propaganda-works/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [You're almost always better off keeping your mouth shut, but don't let that stop you from popping off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/you-re-almost-always-better-off-keeping-your-mouth-shut-but-don-t-let/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [The fastest thing computers do is go obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/the-fastest-thing-computers-do-is-go-obsolete/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [Every one starts out being an atheist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/every-one-starts-out-being-an-atheist/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/if-you-don-t-enjoy-getting-up-and-working-and-finishing-your-work-and/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [As an old reporter, we have a few secrets, and the first thing is we try the phone book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/as-an-old-reporter-we-have-a-few-secrets-and-the-first-thing-is-we/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [I've learned... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/i-ve-learned-that-it-s-those-small-daily-happenings-that-make-life-so/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [... all of us talk faster than we listen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/all-of-us-talk-faster-than-we-listen/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [You can't be a good writer without being a good thinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/you-can-t-be-a-good-writer-without-being-a-good-thinker/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [A great many people do not have the right to their own opinion because they don't know what they are talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/a-great-many-people-do-not-have-the-right-to-their-own-opinion/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

[Explore all 264 Andy Rooney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

## More Economics quotes

> [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/don-t-let-s-lose-sight-of-what-creates-wealth-it-is-open-markets-it/)

[Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/)

> [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/)

[Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/)

> [Our biggest challenge is to eliminate the popular perception that economists don't have anything useful to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zandi/our-biggest-challenge-is-to-eliminate-the-popular-perception-that/)

[Mark Zandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zandi/)

> [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/)

[Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/)

> [Our engagement through international economics, trade, these trade agreements, is vital and is linked to our national security. This is a lesson we learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-boustany/our-engagement-through-international-economics-trade-these-trade/)

[Charles Boustany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-boustany/)

> [“The free-market economy and globalisation process have brought about, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, a sharp and sudden rise in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaakov-malkin/the-free-market-economy-and-globalisation-process-have-brought-about/)

Yaakov Malkin

> [“Everything economic science posits as given, that is, the range of dispositions of the economic agent which ground the illusion of the ahistorical universality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/everything-economic-science-posits-as-given-that-is-the-range-of/)

[Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/)

> [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/)

[Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/)

> [Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winnie-byanyima/having-an-economy-that-works-for-the-99-is-achievable/)

[Winnie Byanyima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winnie-byanyima/)

> [“a select group of high-performing companies have managed to close the strategy-to-performance gap through better planning and execution. These companies—Barclays, Cisco Systems, Dow Chemical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mankins/a-select-group-of-high-performing-companies-have-managed-to-close-the/)

[Michael C. Mankins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mankins/)

> [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/)

[Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/)

> [Economists think about what people ought to do. Psychologists watch what they actually do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/economists-think-about-what-people-ought-to-do-psychologists-watch/)

[Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/)

> [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/)

[Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/)

> [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/)

[Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/)

> [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/)

[Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/)

[Browse all 7,788 Economics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "All economists should be locked up until they admit that they don't know what they're talking about.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Andy Rooney"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until-they-admit-that-they-don-t/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Economics"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until-they-admit-that-they-don-t/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/andy-rooney-1253_economics_all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until_2287242.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“All economists should be locked up until they admit that they don't know what they're talking about.” — Andy Rooney",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Andy Rooney",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "All economists should be locked up...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until-they-admit-that-they-don-t/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/all-economists-should-be-locked-up-until-they-admit-that-they-don-t/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
