John Kenneth Galbraith
Canadian-American · 1908–2006
Canadian-American economist, public intellectual, and diplomat, known for his critique of consumer capitalism and the role of large corporations in the modern economy.
Wikipedia ↗“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.”
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“The modern conservative is not even combative. He has become a peaceful combatant in a war he has already won. He does not engage the old arguments but simply assumes them to be settled.”
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“In a community where public services have failed to keep abreast of private consumption, things are very different. Here, in an atmosphere of private opulence and public squalor, the private goods have full sway.”
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“The greater the wealth, the thicker will be the dirt. This indubitably describes a tendency of our time.”
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“The salary of the chief executive of a large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself.”
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“Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.”
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Classic Soviet-era joke that Galbraith is said to have repeated, not originally his.
“Nothing so gives the illusion of intelligence as personal association with large sums of money.”
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