--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its…" description: "\"The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of peop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg" --- # The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is… ![“The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of people's lives.” quote by Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg) > “The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of people's lives.” [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Austerity relies on precise math, ignoring real-life complexities and human variability. **In simple terms:** Austerity is too rigid for messy lives. Key Takeaway Balance policy with human reality. Themes economics policy humanity Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - budget planning - social welfare programs - public debates Key Concepts Mathematical modeling social impact Questions to Reflect On - Can policies be both precise and compassionate? - How to incorporate human variability in economics? A Different Perspective May underestimate necessity of fiscal discipline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Austerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) [Flaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaw/) [Imperfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperfection/) [Math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? What if we’d been that kind of family? Well, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/and-what-if-we-d-been-utterly-open-made-jokes-about-the-first-wife/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [The emphasis so far on fiscal austerity, while to a degree necessary for the countries facing market funding difficulties, is excessive when carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dallara/the-emphasis-so-far-on-fiscal-austerity-while-to-a-degree-necessary/) [Charles Dallara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dallara/) > [We used to be one of the richest countries in the world, but we are now on a path towards under-development. This austerity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-used-to-be-one-of-the-richest-countries-in-the-world-but-we-are/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/it-is-opposition-to-economic-orthodoxy-that-leads-us-into-austerity/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/too-many-politicians-seem-to-reach-for-infrastructure-as-the-default/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/i-believe-that-if-we-are-able-to-obviously-we-need-to-ensure-that-we/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. I came to admire her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-was-my-good-fortune-to-be-linked-with-mme-curie-through-twenty/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Extreme concupiscence may be found under extreme austerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-of-valois/extreme-concupiscence-may-be-found-under-extreme-austerity/) [Margaret of Valois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-of-valois/) ## More by Steven Weber > [What's hard, it seems, is living up to the words spoken by Jesus Christ, who preached naught but love and mercy and justice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/what-s-hard-it-seems-is-living-up-to-the-words-spoken-by-jesus-christ/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [Everything sells. Like integrity. Like democracy. Like truth. Like deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/everything-sells-like-integrity-like-democracy-like-truth-like-deeds/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [I know it's sappy, but I bet there's a market for civility and niceness out there that, while probably not as titillating as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/i-know-it-s-sappy-but-i-bet-there-s-a-market-for-civility-and/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [I've rarely gotten a good review in my life, yet, to paraphrase Noel Coward, I am happy to console myself with the bitter palliative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/i-ve-rarely-gotten-a-good-review-in-my-life-yet-to-paraphrase-noel/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [The right-wing just loves making a big entrance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-right-wing-just-loves-making-a-big-entrance/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [Meaning and value depend on human mind space and the commitment of time and energy by very smart people to a creative enterprise. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/meaning-and-value-depend-on-human-mind-space-and-the-commitment-of/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [No matter what your political persuasion, you can find a guide that makes it quick, easy and painless to exercise your right to vote.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/no-matter-what-your-political-persuasion-you-can-find-a-guide-that/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [Let me go out on a limb and suggest that those who see hints of a new class ideology developing around information technology are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/let-me-go-out-on-a-limb-and-suggest-that-those-who-see-hints-of-a-new/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [Social media has created a legion of social delinquents, billions of people speaking not their minds but their spleens, venting everything from the gum-cracking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/social-media-has-created-a-legion-of-social-delinquents-billions-of/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [A nation is not a budget, no matter how much ideologues want it to be so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/a-nation-is-not-a-budget-no-matter-how-much-ideologues-want-it-to-be/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [The guard rails on a highway may restrict some folks from driving the way they want, but those rules mostly end up saving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-guard-rails-on-a-highway-may-restrict-some-folks-from-driving-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [In the corporate-owned media, men dressed like Ronald Reagan and women dressed like Rita Hayworth disseminate grotesque exaggerations and gossip in authoritative tones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/in-the-corporate-owned-media-men-dressed-like-ronald-reagan-and-women/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [The fact is, presidential politics has become a game of inches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-fact-is-presidential-politics-has-become-a-game-of-inches/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [The GOP/corporate right-wing, it seems, never really considers the consequences of their actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-gop-corporate-right-wing-it-seems-never-really-considers-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) [Explore all 34 Steven Weber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) ## More Austerity quotes > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. I came to admire her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-was-my-good-fortune-to-be-linked-with-mme-curie-through-twenty/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/i-believe-that-if-we-are-able-to-obviously-we-need-to-ensure-that-we/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/too-many-politicians-seem-to-reach-for-infrastructure-as-the-default/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/it-is-opposition-to-economic-orthodoxy-that-leads-us-into-austerity/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [We used to be one of the richest countries in the world, but we are now on a path towards under-development. This austerity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-used-to-be-one-of-the-richest-countries-in-the-world-but-we-are/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The emphasis so far on fiscal austerity, while to a degree necessary for the countries facing market funding difficulties, is excessive when carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dallara/the-emphasis-so-far-on-fiscal-austerity-while-to-a-degree-necessary/) [Charles Dallara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dallara/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? What if we’d been that kind of family? Well, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/and-what-if-we-d-been-utterly-open-made-jokes-about-the-first-wife/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [Extreme concupiscence may be found under extreme austerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-of-valois/extreme-concupiscence-may-be-found-under-extreme-austerity/) [Margaret of Valois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-of-valois/) [Browse all 194 Austerity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of people's lives.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Steven Weber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Austerity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/steven-weber-18741_austerity_the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-su_2573456.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather…” — Steven Weber", "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": "Steven Weber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The flaw in, say, austerity, is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the-2/#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 } } ] } ```