My belief is that nothing that can be expressed by mathematics cannot be expressed by careful use of literary words.
Interpretation
Mathematics and literature can both effectively convey complex ideas.
Paul Samuelson's quote emphasizes the idea that the clarity and precision of mathematics can also be mirrored through the careful use of language. It suggests that while mathematics is often seen as a rigid and purely logical field, the ability to articulate concepts through words can equally express complex thoughts, showcasing the power of language and its importance alongside mathematical reasoning.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of interdisciplinary studies, I could cite this quote to underline how both math and literature convey profound truths.
To a person of analytical ability, perceptive enough to realise that mathematical equipment was a powerful sword in economics, the world of economics was his or her oyster in 1935. The terrain was strewn with beautiful theorems begging to be picked up and arranged in unified order.
I can't think of a president who has been overburdened by a knowledge of economics.
Politicians like to tell people what they want to hear - and what they want to hear is what won't happen.
My family was well off but not rich. I spent the four years I was an undergraduate working on the beach. And it wasn't because I was lazy; it was because my freshman class would go to a hundred different employers and wouldn't get a nibble. That was a disequilibrium system. I realized that the ordinary old-fashioned Euclidean geometry didn't apply.
Economics has never been a science - and it is even less now than a few years ago.
There's nothing in Keynesian economics that would allow you to solve stagflation. But there's nothing in neoclassical economics that would allow you to solve stagflation, either.
Study history, study history. In history lie all the secrets of statecraft.
Too many years away from academia renders you pretty incompetent at research and teaching. So I had to go back.
To learn a belief without the belief is to sing a song without the tune.
What's wrong with our children? Adults telling children to be honest while lying and cheating. Adults telling children to not be violent while marketing and glorifying violence... I believe that adult hypocrisy is the biggest problem children face in America.
If someone comes to you with, 'It's my kid's graduation,' you don't tell them, 'Sorry, you can't go to that.' You just don't do that. You figure out some other way.
Educational equality doesn't guarantee equality on the labor market. Even the most developed countries are not gender-equal. There are still glass ceilings and 'leaky pipelines' that prevent women from getting ahead in the workplace.
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