Robert Reich Quotes

As a poodle may have his hair cut long or his hair cut short, as he may be trimmed with pink ribbons or with blue ribbons, yet he remains the same old poodle, so capitalism may be trimmed with factory laws, tenement laws, divorce laws and gambling laws, but it remains the same old capitalism. These “humanitarian parts” are only trimming the poodle. Socialism, one and inseparable with its “antirent and anticapital parts,” means to get rid of the poodle..

The big policy wins of the New Deal were actually offered as compromises. Because the alternative seemed to be revolution.

But no one can praise Roosevelt for doing this and then insist that he restored our traditional political and economic systems to their former vitality.

The New Deal's enmity for that system of free and competitive private enterprise which we call capitalism was fundamental.

The New Deal was going to redistribute the national income according to ideals of social and economic justice.

Devolutionary reform will not provide a factory, a machine or jobs, build a school, train a doctor or put a pound on pensions.

What I have been trying to do is indict the entire vision of progressivism.

Capitalism with airbags—the type of capitalism I am a fan of.

We, the people of the United States, and nobody else, must cure whatever is wrong with the industrial situation, typified by this narrative of the Standard Oil Company.

In every developing country, even developed ones, vested interests prevent sectors from being reformed.

Our system of market capitalism wasn't handed down, in perfect form, on stone tablets. We wrote the rules. We broke them. And we can fix them.

Roosevelt's New Deal regulated business, protected social welfare and promoted national infrastructure on the principle that the role of government was not simply to protect the property of the wealthy, but rather was to promote equality of opportunity for all.

During the New Deal, liberals recognized that the ballot box and elected branches are generally the appropriate engines of social reform, and liberals used both to spectacular effect - instituting profound social changes that remain deeply ingrained in society today.

I'm a capitalist, and I believe that universal basic income is necessary for capitalism to continue.

The point about Roosevelt's New Deal was that it was visionary - for the 1930s.

There is no real answer [to the U.S. economic crisis] but to remove brick by brick the capitalist system itself, rebuilding the entire society on socialist principles.

Laissez Faire was very good sauce for the goose, labor, but was very poor sauce for the gander, capital.

Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy.

The right combination is between a free economy and social policy that addresses the needs of society and creates equal opportunity.

Right now people seem to be very tentative about the positive benefits of capitalism.

When Roosevelt came along, I approved of his program, generally. I figured an economic system should work for people, not vice versa.

They do not say Roosevelt saved our system. They say he has given us a new one. That is logical.

What if capitalism is unsustainable, and socialism is impossible?

I don't think that capitalism should be unbridled, if by 'unbridled' you mean unregulated.

I had watched for many years and seen how a few rich families held much of Argentina's wealth and power in their hands. So Peron and the government brought in an eight hour working day, sickness pay and fair wages to give poor workers a fair go .