We should be humble about our ability to design institutions... - Douglass North

"We should be humble about our ability to design institutions, as unintended consequences are nearly always present."

Douglass North Wisdom

Economist Historian American 1920–2015

More from Douglass North

"Institutions are the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction."

"The performance of economies over time is determined by institutions and institutional change."

"Ideas have consequences, and the ideas we hold shape the institutions we create."

"Economic history is fundamentally about understanding how societies organize production and exchange."

"I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed."

"The best things in life are free."

"You can't have everything in life, but you can have what matters most."

"A woman's intuition is rarely wrong."