Richard W. Evans, PhD

“...the decision not to use theories of man's economic behavior, even hypothetically, limits the value to economic science and to the maker of policies, of the results obtained or obtainable by the [empirical] methods developed.”

“In economics, the conditions that constitute a structure are (1) a set of relations describing human behavior and institutions as well as technological laws and involving, in general, nonobservable random disturbances and nonobservable random errors in measurement; (2) the joint probability distribution of these random quantities.”

“Since all models are wrong the scientist must be alert to what is importantly wrong. It is inappropriate to be concerned about mice when there are tigers abroad.”

“...it does not seem helpful just to say that all models are wrong. The very word model implies simplification and idealization. The idea that complex physical, biological or sociological systems can be exactly described by a few formulae is patently absurd. The construction of idealized representations that capture important stable aspects of such systems is, however, a vital part of general scientific analysis and statistical models, especially substantive ones....”

“The secret to sustained success isn’t outworking everyone. It is building a life around your craft you never want to escape from.”

“For example, [Milton] Friedman’s style as a debater reveals an aspect of his personality. He was always courteous to his opponents in a debate, never attacked ad hominem. He concentrated on weaknesses of the opponent’s arguments and invariably emerged as the victor in the debate.”

“In each instance, problems of physics, philosophy, and technology cross. Staring through the metaphorical we can find the literal; through the literal we can see the metaphorical.”

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.”

“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

“Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production.”

“The world is still a closed economy, but its regions and countries are becoming increasingly open.... The international economic climate has changed in the direction of financial integration, and this has important implications for economic policy.”

“The modern world regards business crises much as the ancient Egyptian regarded the overflowing of the Nile. The phenomenon recurs at intervals; it is of great importance to everyone, and natural causes of it are not in sight.”

“Is there some action a government of India could take that would lead the Indian economy to grow like Indonesia’s or Egypt’s? If so, what, exactly? If not, what is it about the ‘nature of India’ that makes it so? The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering: Once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else.”

“No nation was ever ruined by trade, even seemingly the most disadvantageous.”

“The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.”

“In the fall of 1972, President Nixon announced that the rate of increase of inflation was decreasing. This was the first time a sitting president used the third derivative to advance his case for reelection.”

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”

“Mathematics is the art of reducing any problem to linear algebra.”

“If we can formulate a problem as a convex optimization problem, then we can solve it efficiently.... With only a bit of exaggeration, we can say that, if you formulate a practical problem as a convex optimization problem, then you have solved the original problem.”

“My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self of the chains that shackle the spirit.”

“If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is.”

“Bad programmers worry about the code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships.”

“The fundamental law of computer science: As machines become more powerful, the efficiency of algorithms grows more important, not less.”

“Prosperity is energy intensive.”

“In terms of priority, inspiration comes first. You come next. The audience comes last.”

“If one wishes to know whether a kingdom is well governed, examine the character of its music.”

“The hardest job for an artist is to create a work that other people love.”

“…every good product that I’ve ever seen… is because a group of people cared deeply about making something wonderful that they and their friends wanted…. That’s how almost everything I know that’s good has come about.”

“Open source policy models are fundamentally apolitical because of their transparency, accessibility, and replicability.”

“Even small demographic changes have a bigger macroeconomic impact than any fiscal reform I have ever simulated.”