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29 Notable Quotes By George Joseph Stigler

Famous As: Economist
Born On: 1911
Died On: 1991
Born In: Renton, Washington, United States
Founder / Co Founder: Mont Pelerin Society
Died At Age: 80
George Joseph Stigler was an illustrious American economist who was awarded the ‘Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences’ in 1982 for his seminal studies of industrial structures, causes and effects of public regulation and functioning of markets. He was also an eminent leader of the ‘Chicago School of Economics’. In 1931 he graduated from the ‘University of Washington’ and pursued his post-graduation from ‘Northwestern University’. He earned his Ph.D at the ‘University of Chicago’ in economics. He is accredited with creating a lasting influence on the economic thought, industrial relations and industrial organization. Read through the simple, sensible and inspirational quotes and sayings by George Joseph Stigler which have been excerpted from his writings, lectures, works, thoughts, life, researches and public utterances. Presenting famous quotes and thoughts by George Joseph Stigler on price, economics, science, time, lost, quality, faith, friend, regulation, study, theory, Chicago, working, seattle, university, professional, war and more.
In the 1950s, I proposed the survivor method of determining the efficient sizes of enterprises, and worked on delivered price systems, vertical integration, and similar topics.

In the 1950s, I proposed the survivor method of determining the efficient sizes of enterprises, and worked on delivered price systems, vertical integration, and similar topics.

George Joseph Stigler
In 1958, I came to Chicago where I have remained.

In 1958, I came to Chicago where I have remained.

George Joseph Stigler
I met my wife, Margaret L. Mack, at the University of Chicago. We were married in 1936. She died in 1970.

I met my wife, Margaret L. Mack, at the University of Chicago. We were married in 1936. She died in 1970.

George Joseph Stigler
My teaching began in 1936 at Iowa State College where T. W. Schultz was the department chairman.

My teaching began in 1936 at Iowa State College where T. W. Schultz was the department chairman.

George Joseph Stigler
I started working and publishing in price theory by 1938.

I started working and publishing in price theory by 1938.

George Joseph Stigler
Even before I came to Chicago, I had gotten interested in the existence of dispersion of prices under conditions which economic theory said would yield a single price.

Even before I came to Chicago, I had gotten interested in the existence of dispersion of prices under conditions which economic theory said would yield a single price.

George Joseph Stigler
My main graduate training was received at the University of Chicago from which I received the Ph.D. in 1938.

My main graduate training was received at the University of Chicago from which I received the Ph.D. in 1938.

George Joseph Stigler
And yet I would not freely exchange my science for those of my fellow laureates. They are forever confined in their professional discussions to the small numbers of their fellow scientists.

And yet I would not freely exchange my science for those of my fellow laureates. They are forever confined in their professional discussions to the small numbers of their fellow scientists.

George Joseph Stigler
Mathematics has no symbols for confused ideas.

Mathematics has no symbols for confused ideas.

George Joseph Stigler
I attended schools in Seattle through the University of Washington, from which I was graduated in 1931. I spent the next year at Northwestern University.

I attended schools in Seattle through the University of Washington, from which I was graduated in 1931. I spent the next year at Northwestern University.

George Joseph Stigler
My interests were aroused, and my faith in the cliches of the subject destroyed, as so often with other subjects, by the discussions with my friend, Aaron Director.

My interests were aroused, and my faith in the cliches of the subject destroyed, as so often with other subjects, by the discussions with my friend, Aaron Director.

George Joseph Stigler
The main insight learned from interdisciplinary studies is the return to specialization

The main insight learned from interdisciplinary studies is the return to specialization

George Joseph Stigler
Stigler's Law: No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.

Stigler's Law: No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.

George Joseph Stigler
...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.

...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.

George Joseph Stigler
All great economists are tall. There are two exceptions: John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman.

All great economists are tall. There are two exceptions: John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman.

George Joseph Stigler
It was in the 1960s that I began the detailed study of public regulation.

It was in the 1960s that I began the detailed study of public regulation.

George Joseph Stigler
That subject has lost its one time appeal to economists as our science has become more abstract, but my interest has even grown more intense as the questions raised by the sociology of science became more prominent.

That subject has lost its one time appeal to economists as our science has become more abstract, but my interest has even grown more intense as the questions raised by the sociology of science became more prominent.

George Joseph Stigler
Adam Smith had one overwhelmingly important triumph: he put into the center of economics the systematic analysis of the behavior of individuals pursuing their self-interest under conditions of competition.

Adam Smith had one overwhelmingly important triumph: he put into the center of economics the systematic analysis of the behavior of individuals pursuing their self-interest under conditions of competition.

George Joseph Stigler
If you never miss a plane, you’re spending too much time at the airport.

If you never miss a plane, you’re spending too much time at the airport.

George Joseph Stigler
A Swedish physicist can not discuss his work with fifty people unless he goes abroad. A Swedish economist can get opinions and instructions in his native language from thousands upon thousands of his fellow citizens.

A Swedish physicist can not discuss his work with fifty people unless he goes abroad. A Swedish economist can get opinions and instructions in his native language from thousands upon thousands of his fellow citizens.

George Joseph Stigler
There is only one social science and we are its practitioners

There is only one social science and we are its practitioners

George Joseph Stigler
Theories are not rejected by cirsumstantial evidence: it takes a theory to beat a theory.

Theories are not rejected by cirsumstantial evidence: it takes a theory to beat a theory.

George Joseph Stigler
Competition is a tough weed, not a delicate flower.

Competition is a tough weed, not a delicate flower.

George Joseph Stigler
...it is distressing how often one can guess the answer given to an economic question merely by knowing who asks it.

...it is distressing how often one can guess the answer given to an economic question merely by knowing who asks it.

George Joseph Stigler

Henry Ford made a lot of money making cars at one time, but that was a small advantage to him compared to the benefit to millions of people who for the first time in their lives were emancipated from common public carriers and could live where they wanted, move at the hours they wanted, to the places they wanted. Ford collected a billion bucks, but that was peanuts compared to the benefits.

George Joseph Stigler

Why, when the economist gives advice to his society, is he so often cooly ignored? He never ceases to preach free trade, and protectionism is growing in the United States. He deplores the perverse effects of minimum wage laws, and the legal minimum is regularly raised each 3 or 5 years. He brands usury laws as a medieval superstition, but no state hurries to repeal its law.

George Joseph Stigler

Friedman stumbled in, late to the seminar as usual and reeking of cigar smoke and whiskey. He hadn't read the paper being presented, and halfway through he just gets up, walks up to the podium, socks the mother****er right in the face and takes a piss all over his lecture notes.

George Joseph Stigler

The Chicago Economics Department was in intellectual ferment, although the central issues of the 1930s were very different from those in later times. I had never before encountered minds of that quality at close quarters and they influenced me strongly.

George Joseph Stigler

The delicate and intricate pattern of competition and cooperation in the economic behavior of the hundreds of thousands of citizens of Stockholm offers a challenge to the economist that is perhaps as complex as the challenges of the physicist and the chemist.

George Joseph Stigler