… is from page 457 of Thomas K. McCraw’s 2007 soaring biography of Joseph Schumpeter, Prophet of Innovation (footnote excluded):
Schumpeter derived a pair of principles from the example of the optimists. First, the accuracy of an economic vision is not always commensurate with the analytical ability of those who hold it. Second, pessimistic visions about almost anything usually strike the public as more erudite than optimistic ones.
Very sadly, Thomas McCraw passed away last week.
