Quotes / Artistic License – Economics

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

— Rudyard Kipling

Susan: Look... how would you make sure everyone in the world was well fed?
Bilious: Me? Oh, well, I... I suppose you'd have to think about the prevalent political systems, and the proper cultivation of arable land, and —
Susan: Yes, yes. But he'd just give everyone a good meal.

— Hogfather

Human Trader: So the state dictates all careers, sets all production, and seizes all goods.
Dwarf: Yep.
Human: Then the goods go to privately owned shops, free of charge, but the aristocracy sets all the prices.
Dwarf: Right.
Human: How do you live with a system like that?
Dwarf: I made a really snazzy leather earring a few years ago, so I'm exempt from it all.

— Three Panel Soul on the economy in the game Dwarf Fortress

If economics is that simple, how come you can get a degree in that shit?!

— Ed Byrne, Roaring Forties

"And I promise to every poor idiot that you will all be rich, because we're gonna print some more money. Why didn't anyone ever think of this before?!"

— Nathan Explosion, during his stint as Governor of Florida, Metalocalypse