--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Debates go on to this day about what…" description: "\"Debates go on to this day about what caused the Great Depression. Economics is not very good at explaining swings in economic activity.\" — Eugene Fama" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/993/eugene-fama-16985_about_debates-go-on-to-this-day-about-what-cau_314556.jpg" --- # Debates go on to this day about what caused the Great… ![“Debates go on to this day about what caused the Great Depression. Economics is not very good at explaining swings in economic activity.” quote by Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/993/eugene-fama-16985_about_debates-go-on-to-this-day-about-what-cau_314556.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/993/eugene-fama-16985_about_debates-go-on-to-this-day-about-what-cau_314556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/993/eugene-fama-16985_about_debates-go-on-to-this-day-about-what-cau_314556.jpg) > “Debates go on to this day about what caused the Great Depression. Economics is not very good at explaining swings in economic activity.” [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Economic fluctuations are complex and often resist simple explanations, highlighting limits of current models. **In simple terms:** Economics struggles to explain cycles. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty in economic forecasting. Themes economics uncertainty history Mood skeptical analytical Type analytical critical When to use this quote - policy making - investment decisions - academic research Key Concepts business cycles model limitations Questions to Reflect On - How can we improve economic predictions? - What role do human behavior play? A Different Perspective Economic models cannot capture all variables. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Caused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caused/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Debates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debates/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Depression Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression-economics-2977705/) [Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic/) [Economic activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-activity/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economics Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics-good-326712/) [Explaining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explaining/) [Go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/go/) [Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good/) [Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great/) [Great depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-depression/) [Swings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swings/) [Swings Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swings-economic-2977706/) [Very](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/very/) ## Related quotes > [Moreover, for decades we have been prone to far greater swings in the economic cycle than our continental counterparts. 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It's a sort of provocation that caused a lot of debates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-chappatte/some-felt-as-if-charlie-hebdo-was-obsessed-with-its-screw-allah/) [Patrick Chappatte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-chappatte/) > [Good economics is good politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/good-economics-is-good-politics/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [Economics is a good degree to have but the subject is very theoretical at Cambridge and I found it frustrating that you can't apply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konnie-huq/economics-is-a-good-degree-to-have-but-the-subject-is-very/) [Konnie Huq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konnie-huq/) > [We now know that anything which is economically right is also morally right. There can be no conflict between good economics and good morals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/we-now-know-that-anything-which-is-economically-right-is-also-morally/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Studying economics is not a good preparation for dealing with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/studying-economics-is-not-a-good-preparation-for-dealing-with-it/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [A lot of Democrats have said that raising the minimum wage is both good economics and good politics. The nonpartisan CBO issued a report…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-cupp-2/a-lot-of-democrats-have-said-that-raising-the-minimum-wage-is-both/) [S. E. 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It unlocks a higher fraction of human potential, it balances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/capitalism-is-the-best-way-of-organizing-economic-activity-for-a-lot/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Lawmakers have good reason to want a healthy broadcast industry. Broadcast TV stations provide more than 186,000 jobs on an annual basis, which directly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-smith/lawmakers-have-good-reason-to-want-a-healthy-broadcast-industry/) [Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-smith/) > [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/) > [Profit is the sole criterion used by the establishment to evaluate economic activity. From the rat race to lame ducks. The vocabulary in vogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-reid/profit-is-the-sole-criterion-used-by-the-establishment-to-evaluate/) [Jimmy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-reid/) ## More by Eugene Fama > [I don't even know what that means. People who get credit have to get it from somewhere. Does a credit bubble mean that people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/i-don-t-even-know-what-that-means-people-who-get-credit-have-to-get/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [I don't believe anyone wants to hear what I have to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/i-don-t-believe-anyone-wants-to-hear-what-i-have-to-say/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [After taking risk into account, do more managers than you’d see by chance outperform with persistence? 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For passive investors, none of this matters, beyond being aware that outlier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/the-distribution-of-the-market-is-fat-tailed-relative-to-the-normal/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [There's quite a bit of evidence that even professionals don't show any ability to pick stocks or to predict market rollbacks. Most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/there-s-quite-a-bit-of-evidence-that-even-professionals-don-t-show/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [State constitutions typically provide that the state first has to service its debt, then make it pension payments, and then pay for services. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/state-constitutions-typically-provide-that-the-state-first-has-to/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [The efficient market theory is one of the better models in the sense that it can be taken as true for every purpose I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/the-efficient-market-theory-is-one-of-the-better-models-in-the-sense/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [People are always saying that prices are too high. When they turn out to be right, we anoint them. When they turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/people-are-always-saying-that-prices-are-too-high-when-they-turn-out/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [People don't walk away from their homes unless they can't make the payments. That's an indication that we are in a recession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/people-don-t-walk-away-from-their-homes-unless-they-can-t-make-the/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [In my junior year in college, I was getting kind of tired of French. So, I took an economics course, and I loved it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/in-my-junior-year-in-college-i-was-getting-kind-of-tired-of-french-so/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [All the central banks are doing is substituting one form of debt with another form of debt. They're issuing short term debt and using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/all-the-central-banks-are-doing-is-substituting-one-form-of-debt-with/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [Tastes and behavior are important in economics. Nobody denies that. 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