Joan Robinson

"The economist's job is to explain how the world works, not justify how it is."

"Technological unemployment is real and requires real policy responses."

"The profit motive has driven remarkable innovation and remarkable cruelty."

"Fair trade is not a luxury belief; it is a moral imperative of advanced economies."

"Interest on debt is the mechanism by which the rich grow richer."

"Banking systems can serve either the community or the elite, not both equally."

"The stock market reflects not the health of the economy but the confidence of speculators."

"Economic policy is never neutral; it always favors someone."

"The worker's bargaining power depends on alternatives; scarcity is their only leverage."

"Inflation and unemployment trade-off assumes passive workers; active organizing changes the equation."

"The firm exists not to maximize profit but because transaction costs make hierarchy cheaper."

"Rational choice theory assumes people are calculating machines; reality is far messier."

"Externalities are not minor market imperfections; they are often the entire point."

"The distribution of income reflects the distribution of power, not the distribution of talent."

"Economic growth does not necessarily mean human progress or increased wellbeing."

"The subsidy for the rich is called investment; the subsidy for the poor is called welfare."

"Patent monopolies encourage innovation but also concentrate knowledge and power dangerously."

"The globalization of supply chains benefits consumers but often harms workers in production."

"Strategic behavior by firms contradicts the assumption of perfect competition."

"Economic models are useful precisely because they simplify; but simplification can distort."

"The firm is not a democratic institution, yet it consumes much of workers' lives."

"Capital is not merely machines and money; it is congealed labor extracted from workers."

"The business elite convince themselves that their profits are earned, not extracted."

"Collective bargaining corrects the power imbalance between isolated workers and organized capital."

"The market works well for some goods and poorly for others; wisdom lies in knowing which is which."

"Economic security is prerequisite to freedom; freedom without security is mere formality."

"The corporation is a legal fiction that has become more real and powerful than the nation-state."

"Recessions hurt those least responsible for them and benefit those most responsible."

"The reserve army of the unemployed serves capital by keeping wages down."

"Credit rating agencies should assess risk to society, not just to lenders."