Politicians like to tell people what they want to hear - and what they want to hear is what won't happen.
Interpretation
This quote critiques politicians for misleading the public by making false promises.
Paul Samuelson's quote highlights the tendency of politicians to cater to the desires of the electorate by making promises that are often unrealistic or unlikely to be fulfilled. It suggests a disconnect between what politicians say to gain approval and the reality of what can be achieved, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking among voters when evaluating political rhetoric.
In practice
In a political debate, one could use this quote to critique a candidate's unrealistic promises.
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.
My belief is that nothing that can be expressed by mathematics cannot be expressed by careful use of literary words.
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.
Iran has to live up to its international obligations. . . . The president has said that our patience is not unlimited.
After all, Wall Street is clearly the most powerful lobbying force on Capitol Hill. From 1998 through 2008, the financial sector spent over $5 billion in lobbying and campaign contributions to deregulate Wall Street.
France had a policy, initiated by General de Gaulle, of trying to turn Europe into what was then called a 'third force,' independent of the two superpowers, so Europe should pursue an independent course.
Arguments can always be found to turn desire into policy.
I'm concerned when certain movements or countries have been isolated from the international dialogue because then you have no way of influencing them.
Power in America today is control of the means of communication.
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