Believe Quote by John James Cowperthwaite
“I still believe that, in the long run, the aggregate of the decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgment in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is likely to do less harm than the centralized decisions of a Government; and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster. As I said earlier in this debate, our economic medicine may be painful but it is fast and powerful because it can act freely.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Hong Kong Economic Report, 1970s
Free market decisions, despite errors, cause less harm and correct faster than centralized government actions.
In simple terms: Free markets self-correct quicker.
Trust decentralized decision‑making.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- Business strategy
- public policy
- investment decisions
- crisis management
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What are limits of market self‑correction?
- When should government intervene?
Markets can fail without regulation.