Eric Maskin Quotes

I never understand why 'economist makes forecast' is ever a headline. Whether the economist in question is from the International Monetary Fund, a City forecasting group or the Treasury - a forecast is still not news.

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.

We have the best mathematical economic models in the world, and just because our models have been wrong for 14 straight quarters does not mean that they will be wrong in the 15th quarter.

No one can forecast the economy with certainty.

Keynes was a very good economist. He was brilliant. He had wonderful insights. His work has inspired me many times.

During the early 1960s, I decided to supplement research support for quantitative economic studies at Pennsylvania by selling econometric forecasts to private and public sector buyers.

The good news is that economists are intelligent, engaging and often charming folks. The bad news is their work is often of little use to investors.

I was in charge of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So I had some of the most brilliant mathematical statistical minds in the country, who would put together the modern technology, if you like, of understanding the economy and tracking it and trying to influence it.

I'm an economist, I do a lot of forecasting, and I'm probably one of the most successful forecasters in terms of very specific kinds of forecasts.

I'm not an economist and we all know economists were created to make weather forecasters look good.

The key to making a good forecast is not in limiting yourself to quantitative information.

Of course, economic forecasts must be revised when new information arrives and are thus necessarily provisional.

You can build a statistical model and that's all well and good, but if you're dealing with a new type of financial instrument, for example, or a new type of situation - then the choices you're making are pretty arbitrary in a lot of respects.

This paper was one of my digressions into abstract economics.

I think the association of economics with forecasting is unfortunate and is down to the fact that one great way to get an investment bank's name on business television is to hire a guy called a Chief Economist who will go and prognosticate.

Truth be told, most financial television bores me. Two or more people discussing the latest economic trends or hot stocks is not especially entertaining.

I'm quite bullish. We're coming up on year 15 of a flat stock market. Historically that's a pretty good sign. So I'm not a hedge-fund manager but if I was I think I'd be feeling pretty good.

Machine learning signicantly enhances the ability to predict where and when crimes are more likely to happen and who may commit them.

The primary role of the economist is to find out the truth about the real world.

The current fad in economic forecasting is to project so far into the future that no one will be around to hold you accountable.

We have professional economists who can defend any viewpoint with statistics and they do that everywhere in the world.

It's important for market participants to have a sense of how we think about the economy and the appropriate path of policy, to look at incoming data, and to form their own judgments as to whether or not changes in policy would be appropriate.

If we're going to forecast the business cycle, surely it is a good idea to know the business cycle. Sounds reasonable, but it's not that easy.

If I've learned anything as an economic analyst, it is that the stock market and economic winds can shift by the hour.

Sometimes economists are right, and sometimes economists are wrong.