John Maynard Keynes Quotes
When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?
Although this quotation has been cited by many scholars, none has yet given a primary citation. As a result a few researchers question the attribution to Keynes and argue that the first primary source of this notion was the Nobel Laureate in Economics Paul Samuelson -- Quote {645739}. However, even Samuelson attributed this quotation to Keynes although he did not do so at this particualr interview.
See {627632} for an earlier advocy of change when circumstances warrant and {636175} for a modern view.
Most politicians would never do this. Ideologues rarely analyze their beliefs. Pragmatic politicians are fearful of being called a flip flopper with no core principles. However, some politicians follow this advice. For example, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were both among the rare politicians who would frequently change positions as they learned more. See John Maynard Keynes {619441} for a personal statement of this principle and {636175} for a modern view.
When a scientist is persuaded to change his position, he is acting in the great tradition of the best of scientists. When a politician does the same, he is a flip flopper, without any real principles and clearly not to be trusted. A scientist would not be trusted by his peers if he did not readily change is views.
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB, FBA (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in mathematics, he built on and greatly refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles. One of the most influential economists of the 20th century, he produced writings that are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics, and its various offshoots. His ideas, reformulated as New Keynesianism, are fundamental to mainstream macroeconomics.
