Quotes by James Tobin

“There was considerable danger theyd be forgotten and their contributions buried,”

“I think the filmmakers and I were interested in telling stories that werent well known,”

“The stories of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate already had been well-told by others, both on film and in books, ... But here was this remarkable, all-but-unknown story about Gustav Lindenthal and Othmar Ammann ... and how they fought each other to realize the dream of bridging the Hudson with what would be the longest bridge in the world.”

“I just find Ammann so appealing ... so deliberate, so smart, a walk-the-walk kind of guy who did something he cared about so deeply, ... I kind of fell in love with that bridge, too -- in fact, with the whole suspension bridge form. Its just a beautiful, beautiful structure.”

“The cost overruns for the Big Dig look outrageous to us now ... but many big projects of the past have cost much more than the original estimates, ... (But) cities really dont have much choice. Americans have chosen to live in cities; we have no choice but to keep them livable. And despite the enormous headaches that Bostonians are experiencing now ... in 20 years theyre going to be proud as hell, because theyll have the most beautiful and livable downtown in the country.”

A long decade ago economic growth was the reigning fashion of political economy. It was simultaneously the hottest subject of economic theory and research, a slogan eagerly claimed by politicians of all stripes, and a serious objective of the policies of governments. The climate of opinion has changed dramatically. Disillusioned critics indict both economic science and economic policy for blind obeisance to aggregate material progress, and for neglect of its costly side effects. Growth, it is charged, distorts national priorities, worsens the distribution of income, and irreparably damages the environment. Paul Erlich speaks for a multitude when he says, We must acquire a life style which has as its goal maximum freedom and happiness for the individual, not a maximum Gross National Product. [in Nordhaus, William D. and James Tobin., Is growth obsolete? Economic Research: Retrospect and Prospect Vol 5: Economic Growth. Nber, 1972. 1-80]

Yale places great stress on undergraduate and graduate teaching. I like teaching, and I do a lot of it.

The miserable failures of capitalist economies in the Great Depression were root causes of worldwide social and political disasters.