During the research for my previous post, I came across a bumper sticker that attributed the quotation in question to John Maynard Keynes. When I informed the purveyor that the quotation was not from Keynes’s oeuvre, they replied:
Well, that is sad. It seems that making things up has been a major accomplishment of the electronic age. We will probably keep the saying but remove the attribution. This seems to be happening a lot more than it used to. Thanks.
Here’s their updated bumper sticker.
A small victory for truth, justice, and scholarship.
* * * * *
Update 8/13/09: One month later, the bumper sticker is still being sold online with the attribution.
I rather like that quote. But if Keynes didn’t say it, then who the hell said it? Inquiring minds want to know.
[SC responds: See my previous post on this for my theory of origin.]
http://stevecotler.com/tales/2009/07/07/keynes-nastiest-wickedest-capitalism/
Socialism is the extraordinary belief that the most average of men, without incentive, will produce extraordinary results for anyone.
[SC responds: I believe Karl Marx said that. Or was it Groucho?]