--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even if the constants which economists…" description: "\"Even if the constants which economists wish to determine were less numerous, and the method of experiment more accessible, we should still be faced wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg" --- # Even if the constants which economists wish to determine… ![“Even if the constants which economists wish to determine were less numerous, and the method of experiment more accessible, we should still be faced with the fact that the constants themselves are different at different times. The gravitation constant is the same always. But the economic…” quote by Arthur Cecil Pigou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg) > “Even if the constants which economists wish to determine were less numerous, and the method of experiment more accessible, we should still be faced with the fact that the constants themselves are different at different times. The gravitation constant is the same always. But the economic constants-these elasticities of demand and supply-depending, as they do, upon human consciousness, are liable to vary. The constitution of the atom, as it were, and not merely its position, changes under the influence of environment.” Arthur Cecil Pigou ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Economic constants like elasticities change with human consciousness, unlike physical constants, highlighting the fluid nature of economic variables. **In simple terms:** Economic variables shift with human behavior, unlike fixed physical laws. Key Takeaway Account for human factors when modeling economies. Themes economics human behavior variables uncertainty theory Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type theoretical analytical When to use this quote - policy design - academic research - market forecasting - behavioral economics - theoretical analysis Key Concepts elasticity economic modeling human consciousness environmental influence Questions to Reflect On - What methods can capture changing economic elasticities? - How do we reconcile physical constancy with economic variability? A Different Perspective Economic models may be unstable due to shifting human factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Demand And Supply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand-and-supply/) [Economist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economist/) [Elasticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elasticity/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Gravitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravitation/) [Human consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-consciousness/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [The gravitation constant is the same always. But the economic constants-these elasticities of demand and supply-depending, as they do, upon human consciousness, are liable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/the-gravitation-constant-is-the-same-always-but-the-economic/) Arthur Cecil Pigou > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“What links the peoples of the world together is no longer the rule of civilization or the interplay of demand and supply, but their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-sachs/what-links-the-peoples-of-the-world-together-is-no-longer-the-rule-of/) [Wolfgang Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-sachs/) > [I see the role of IT as a change agent. It empowers, connects and can bind isolated parts of India and create harmony. IT…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/i-see-the-role-of-it-as-a-change-agent-it-empowers-connects-and-can/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [“Demand features – product design, marketing, credit and the consumer society - are central to this process. Demand drives growth while supply expansion (from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-a-hudson/demand-features-product-design-marketing-credit-and-the-consumer/) [Edward A. Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-a-hudson/) > [Wealth brings with it its own checks and balances. The basis of political economy is noninterference. The only safe rule is found in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/wealth-brings-with-it-its-own-checks-and-balances-the-basis-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We will support anything to stabilize the oil demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-bin-salman/we-will-support-anything-to-stabilize-the-oil-demand-and-supply/) [Mohammad bin Salman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-bin-salman/) > [Demand and supply are the opposite extremes of the beam, whence depend the scales of dearness and cheapness; the price is the point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-say/demand-and-supply-are-the-opposite-extremes-of-the-beam-whence-depend/) [Jean-Baptiste Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-say/) > [Creativity is not about making 30 songs in 30 days. It's never about demand and supply. No one can possibly do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anupam-roy/creativity-is-not-about-making-30-songs-in-30-days-it-s-never-about/) [Anupam Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anupam-roy/) > [“firms do not borrow as much to invest when rates are higher and individuals stop buying durable goods against credit and, instead, turn to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghuram-g-rajan/firms-do-not-borrow-as-much-to-invest-when-rates-are-higher-and/) [Raghuram G. Rajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghuram-g-rajan/) > [“There’s randomness and there’s the demand and supply ratio. And both of these combine to stop the average man from making it big. More…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daya-kudari/there-s-randomness-and-there-s-the-demand-and-supply-ratio-and-both/) [Daya Kudari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daya-kudari/) > [We hear of the wealth of nations, of the powers of production, of the demand and supply of markets, and we forget that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-hear-of-the-wealth-of-nations-of-the-powers-of-production-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is perhaps no single factor contributing so much to people's frequent reluctance to let the market work as their inability to conceive how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/there-is-perhaps-no-single-factor-contributing-so-much-to-people-s/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [I believe that there is a simple demand and supply rule that works on television. While many are hooked on web series, some enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmin-bhasin/i-believe-that-there-is-a-simple-demand-and-supply-rule-that-works-on/) [Jasmin Bhasin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmin-bhasin/) > [To economists, prices serve as crucial signals to producers and consumers. In a regulated market, the state sets prices high enough for private companies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/to-economists-prices-serve-as-crucial-signals-to-producers-and/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) ## More by Arthur Cecil Pigou > [If a man marries his housekeeper or his cook, the national dividend is diminished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/if-a-man-marries-his-housekeeper-or-his-cook-the-national-dividend-is/) Arthur Cecil Pigou > [The gravitation constant is the same always. But the economic constants-these elasticities of demand and supply-depending, as they do, upon human consciousness, are liable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/the-gravitation-constant-is-the-same-always-but-the-economic/) Arthur Cecil Pigou > [It is not pretended that, at the present stage of its development, economic science is able to provide an organon even remotely approaching to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/it-is-not-pretended-that-at-the-present-stage-of-its-development/) Arthur Cecil Pigou Explore all 4 Arthur Cecil Pigou quotes ## More Atoms quotes > [If the polymer chain assumes a helicoidal conformation in the crystalline state, and if it does not contain asymmetric carbon atoms, it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-natta/if-the-polymer-chain-assumes-a-helicoidal-conformation-in-the/) Giulio Natta > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/a-monkey-is-unaware-that-atoms-exist-likewise-our-brainpower-may-not/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [ \[Decoding the human genome sequence\] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-the-most-significant/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Traditional nationalism cannot survive the fissioning of the atom. One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) Wilhelm Korner > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. And yet-I am inclined to expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-seen-what-to-me-seemed-an-atom-of-proof-that-there-is-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“An atom is mostly made up of empty space. If you remove the empty space from every atom, the entire world's human population could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weike-wang/an-atom-is-mostly-made-up-of-empty-space-if-you-remove-the-empty/) [Weike Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weike-wang/) > [Nature is full of wonders; every atom is a standing miracle, and endowed with such qualities, as could not be impressed on it by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/nature-is-full-of-wonders-every-atom-is-a-standing-miracle-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [ “\[Think\] of an experience from your childhood. Something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell, as if you were really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-grand/think-of-an-experience-from-your-childhood-something-you-remember/) [Steve Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-grand/) > [The books remind us that way down deep in our hearts, part of us knows that we are creatures of light and we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-books-remind-us-that-way-down-deep-in-our-hearts-part-of-us-knows/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) [Browse all 852 Atoms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Even if the constants which economists wish to determine were less numerous, and the method of experiment more accessible, we should still be faced with the fact that the constants themselves are different at different times. The gravitation constant is the same always. But the economic constants-these elasticities of demand and supply-depending, as they do, upon human consciousness, are liable to vary. The constitution of the atom, as it were, and not merely its position, changes under the influence of environment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Cecil Pigou" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/even-if-the-constants-which-economists-wish-to-determine-were-less/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atoms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/even-if-the-constants-which-economists-wish-to-determine-were-less/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/arthur-cecil-pigou-72803_atoms_even-if-the-constants-which-economists-w_1358510.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even if the constants which economists wish to determine were less numerous, and the method of experiment…” — Arthur Cecil Pigou", "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": "Arthur Cecil Pigou", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-cecil-pigou/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Even if the constants which economists...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/even-if-the-constants-which-economists-wish-to-determine-were-less/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-cecil-pigou/even-if-the-constants-which-economists-wish-to-determine-were-less/#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 } } ] } ```