Zachary Karabell Quotes

The kingdom of Bhutan replaced standard economic measures with measures of happiness as long ago as 1972. Yet Bhutan’s G.D.P. per head is still one of the lowest in the world, life expectancy is relatively low and infant mortality high, so it is easy to see why the king would not want anyone to mention the economy.

The so-called leading [economic] indicators no longer answer the most important questions people are raising about how they live.

G.D.P. is not a measure of how much value is produced for consumers. Everybody should recognize that G.D.P. is not a welfare metric.

We all know that China is industrializing at a growth rate of 8 to 10 percent per year. China is on track to pass the U.S. as the largest economy in the world in 20 to 25 years, and China is determined to give its people a chance at this high standard of living that we enjoy.

In the rich countries the poor expect a quantity and quality of commodities beyond the dreams of Louis XIV, while many of the so-called developing countries enjoy much higher economic growth rates than those of industrialized countries at a similar stage of their own histories.

Bend everything toward improving the standard of living of the people.

GDP has effectively become a proxy for national success or failure. It has the power to decide elections, overthrow governments, and launch popular movements.

China became an economic power with few equals. By 2010 China gad overtaken Japan as the world’s second largest economy in terms of GDP, China’s transformation consistently drew one ideas beyond it shores.

Economics spreads happiness.

The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income as defined by the GDP.

By 1979, Chinese people were poorer, on average, than North Koreans. I mean, your average per-capita income in China that year was one third of sub-Saharan Africa's.

Globalization has benefited middle-income less than either richer or poorer countries.

The history of economic growth is the history of people making more with less and shifting into new jobs that were unheard of in the previous generation.

Globalization has very materially improved the standard of living in the Unitied States... as it has for those countries that have chosen to operate with free trade…. Although none of us likes our competitors, competition has greatly improved our standard of living.

The middle class is the engine of this economy.

You can tell an awful lot about a civilization by how it spends its money.

India, China, and Latin America have a tremendous stake in the people's century. As their masses learn to read and write, and as they become productive mechanics, their standard of living will double and treble.

The largest annual U.S. trade deficits since 1980 have been accompanied by the largest annual job-creation numbers in recent memory. The reason is simple: stronger economies tend to have stronger currencies, and the increased economic activities in these stronger economies and exchange-rate differentials lead inevitably to trade deficits

China is a much richer country than any part of Europe.

Opulent, civilized, and industrious nations, are greater consumers than poor ones, because they are infinitely greater producers.

In the capitalist society there is a place and bread for all. Its ability to expand provides sustenance for every worker. Permanent unemployment is not a feature of free capitalism.

If the United States does well [economically], then the whole world does well.

It is enlightened selfishness to build up the ability of other nations to a higher standard of living. We thus produce wider markets for ourselves as well as the rest of the world

The normal metric of measuring progress has actually been the rate of growth, OK? It's not a wrong metric, but it's not a full metric.

One industrial age belief is that GDP or GNP is a measure of progress. I don't care if you're the President of China or the U.S., if your country doesn't grow, you're in trouble. But we all know that beyond a certain level of material need, further material acquisition doesn't make people happier.