What we’ve underestimated is the systemic risk that that very finely tuned system of specialization exposes us to. And so I think we will start to ask whether there are ways that we could build some more robustness into our whole system. Paul Romer Read Quote
After 1960, anyone who wanted to discuss almost any aspect of U.S. public policy – from how to make cars safer to whether to abolish the draft, from how to support the housing market to whether to regulate the financial sector – had to speak economics. Paul Romer Read Quote
Yeah, you know, there’s a difference between the textbook world that economists like to imagine, and the real world where real people have real feelings. Paul Romer Read Quote
No one from Charter Cities, can have any financial interest in any project in Honduras; no one can accept consulting fees from the Honduran government; no one can accept reimbursement for travel expenses or accommodations; no one can provide advice to any for-profit entity that wants to invest in Honduras. Paul Romer Read Quote
The economy is this huge innovation discovery machine. What the government can do usefully is to focus some of that effort where things turn out better for everyone. Paul Romer Read Quote
The thing that was bad about colonialism, and the thing which is residually bad in some of our aid programs, is that it involved elements of coercion and condescension. Paul Romer Read Quote
