“It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum.”

I’ve been in and out of Wall Street since 1949, and I’ve never seen the type of animosity between government and Wall Street. And I’m not sure where it comes from, but I suspect it’s got to do with a general schism in this society which is really becoming ever more destructive.

As long as we issue fiat currency, I see no alternative to a legal tender law.

The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the Second World War.

Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity are in a state of shocked disbelief.

The probability of ten consecutive heads is 0.1 percent; thus, when you have millions of coin tossers, or investors, in the end there will be thousands of very successful practitioners of coin tossing, or stock picking.

Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.

I have long argued that paying down the national debt is beneficial for the economy.

Productivity is notoriously difficult to predict.

The economy is turning, and credit comes in with a lag, .. To the extent that a number of small firms are finding it difficult to get the credit they need at a price they can afford, that’s likely to change for the better.

Without calling the overall national issue a bubble, it’s pretty clear that it’s an unsustainable underlying pattern.

If we allow terrorism to undermine our freedom of action, we could reverse at least part of the palpable gains achieved by postwar globalization. It is incumbent upon us not to allow that to happen.

Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which… public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.

There is no evidence that the business cycle has been repealed.

While local economies may experience significant price imbalances, a national severe price distortion seems most unlikely in the United States, given its size and diversity.

The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.

I love to play tennis and golf, listen to music, watch baseball and root for the Redskins.

The good thing about being a hypocrite is that you get to keep your values.

If you keep yourself alive and current, funny is funny.

Keep writing. Try to do a little bit every day, even if the result looks like crap.

We seem to be keeping old fans and are bringing on new fans that are teenagers. I think that is amazing.

It keeps interest rates lower than they otherwise would be and frees savings to finance increases in the capital stock, thereby boosting productivity and real incomes.

They support the concept of it even though they know it won’t work to keep guns out of the hands of criminals they figure ‘well if criminals aren’t supposed to have guns what’s the big deal about a background check,’

You don’t want to be doing it. But you have to. You have to keep moving forward.

And to keep these in parallel vigor one must exercise, study, and love.