Comments on: John Maynard Keynes: Capitalism and the “Nastiest/Wickedest of Men”

By: Goldman Sachs and Burger King - Page 7 - Politics.ie

Goldman Sachs and Burger King - Page 7 - Politics.ie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:23:23 +0000

[...] factor costs are less than output doesn't make it so). Also, you've misquoted Lord Keynes. John Maynard Keynes: Capitalism and the “Nastiest/Wickedest of Men” | Steve Cotler'… Who cares you get my drift. How can the simple existence of profit safeguard against expoilation? [...]

By: Mike Morawski

Mike Morawski — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:52:35 +0000

Mr. Cotler,

Sir. It was indeed a surprise, and a joy to receive your letter today, 9/1. Though I do not know your brother, Lanny personally,I think I met him once at the WCT, I am rather familiar with his political persuasions and comments in The Willits News. I must say that I admire him very much, and have always wanted to personally meet him.
My bad on the misquotation in the P.D. I should have researched it a little more before putting it out there for everyone to see. Thank you for setting the record straight.
If you’re ever up this way to visit Lanny, I would like to extend an invitation to both of you, and your families, to come up to Pine Mountain for a glass of wine, visit, and chat.

Mike Morawski

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:33:37 +0000

My refutation cannot even stem a nearby tide. On 8/26, this letter was printed in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, my local paper: U.S. CAPITALISM EDITOR: In response to Don Christensen's Sunday letter (“U.S. socialism”), let me quote the economist John Maynard Keynes: “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.” MIKE MORAWSKI Willits Sigh...

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:04:59 +0000

Perhaps this is the Adam Smith statement referenced above by Prof. Cate: "I have never known much good done by those who profess to trade for the public good." It was used in Milton Friedman's Adam Smith Award Address, 31st Annual Meeting of the National Association for Business Economics, September 24-27, 1989.

By: Obama on Blagojevich Relationship–Bogus Quote | Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:19:48 +0000

[...] a recent post, I exposed a quote attributed to John Maynard Keynes as a fraud. Such villainy, which is an [...]

By: J.

J. — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 20:45:05 +0000

BTW, speaking of misattribution, Dr. Alec Kirby does not work at the University of Wisconsin, which refers to the flagship Research I school, the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The link you offered indicates that he works at the University of Wisconsin at Stout, an entirely different (i.e., smaller, non-Ph.D.-granting) university.

Also, why is this same quote listed on his page – AND attributed to Keynes? I’m completely confused.

[SC responds: Thanks, J. Mea culpa. I have corrected the university named and included Prof. Kirby's full response to my query. You are correct that he attributed the quote to Keynes on his website. Given his response to me, however, I suspect he will remove the attribution or the quotation now that he knows that its provenance is questionable.]

By: Ladd Biggerstaff

Ladd Biggerstaff — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:08:27 +0000

This is like the guy from Dublin who hoaxed a Maurice Jarre quote after the composer died in May.

See:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/11/international/i090708D96.DTL

By: “Keynesian” Capitalism Bumper Sticker De-Attributed | Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:31:45 +0000

[...] the research for my previous post, I came across a bumper sticker that attributed quotation in question to John Maynard Keynes. When [...]

By: Joel Wendt

Joel Wendt — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:51:59 +0000

It is interesting, but I don’t know if it is suspicious, especially since it seems like something he would say, which is maybe why it got out there in the first place – he said it to a small group, perhaps in a class lecture, they liked it and passed it on. But being a “remark” it never made it into print. Want to look up everyone who ever had a class with him and see what they think?

Its enough to my my mind to recognize when used that a) it is attributed everywhere to him; and, b) can’t be found in print anywhere or is recognized by scholars of his work. Both are facts. The statement, as you noted, remains basically true and perhaps even a bit wise.

By: Joel Wendt

Joel Wendt — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:51:45 +0000

All that is said there is that most people, including Keynesian scholars, don’t know where the “quote” came from. What’s the old saw: the absence of evidence is not evidence of an absence. I used the quote in a book and will revise the quote to “attributed to”, which I previously had to do with something alleged to have been said by De Tocqueville, about America is Good etc. Thanks for the heads up.

[SC responds: I agree that there is no clear proof. But isn’t the fact that there are NO attributions at all…anywhere…more than a bit suspicious? I think it unscholarly and self-serving to use a quote that can’t be verified. Even “attributing” it to Keynes gives it a weight that cannot be justified.]