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Quotation of the Day…

… is from page 3 of Henry Simons‘s The Simons’ Syllabus, as compiled and edited in 1983 by my late colleague Gordon Tullock:

Economics is primarily useful, both to the student and to the political leader, as a prophylactic against popular fallacies.

The prophylactic role of economics is indeed its most important.  But I disagree with Simons that “the political leader” finds much use for such protection against economic fallacies.  The political leader is, indeed, almost always raised to his or her lofty position of power because he or she proclaims that such fallacies are true, and excels at pretending to protect people from the goblins and devils that play such prominent roles in those fallacies.

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