Johan Norberg Quotes
Best 27 Quotes by Johan Norberg
“Any allegation of runaway capitalism has to be tempered by the observation that today we have the largest public sectors and the highest taxes the world has ever known.”
“Global capitalism means that people are no longer confined by the decisions of national elites. These could be the local monopolies, the local powers, politicians, and so on. By making local powers compete or by bypassing them altogether, globalization gives people more freedom to decide.”
“Intelligence is the capacity to acquire capacity.”
“Much of the history of science has been about showing that man is not so special. But our brain makes us quite special anyway.”
“Patience is one of the most important virtues.”
“People are dying because we in the West are unwilling to change and to actually live by the free market rhetoric we often spout.”
“Profit is proof that the capitalist has given something to society that it cherishes more than the material wealth it has given to the businessman.”
“Steven Pinker even dares to claim that higher intelligence leads to more classically liberal attitudes, such as individualism and freedom over tradition, authority and collectivism.”
“Swedish independent schools must be open to all children, no matter how talented they are, and therefore it will be impossible to build a school adapted for special talents. Strangely enough, there are exceptions for children who are particularly good at sports and music. In egalitarian Sweden, we have so much to say about equality that we have ignored the fact that it crushes those who do not fit in.”
“Within a few decades, memory problems and brain diseases will be mere memories. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the paralyzed will walk.”
A Different Sweden is Possible Quotes
“Development and diversity depend on independent initiatives and competition. When everyone thinks alike not much gets thought.”
Globalisation is Good Quotes
“Is the problem here lack of access to clean water? No. Is it starvation? No. Is it laziness? Definitely not. No, it's poverty due to lack of growth, due to lack of reform. Everything else is just a symptom of that. In fact, even the biggest horrors - famine and war - have political causes. No democracy has ever been afflicted by a famine, and no two democracies have ever made war on each other.
Africa has been subjected by socialism, gangster rule and protectionism. Africa has not been too globalized; it has been too marginalized.”
In Defence of Global Capitalism Quotes
“As a result of this continuous improvement of productivity through the division of labor and technical advancement, one hour's labor today is worth about 25 times more than it was in the mid-19th century. Growth and productivity alone are capable of raising real wages in the long run.”
“Basically, what I believe in is neither capitalism nor globalization. I believe in man's capacity for achieving great things and in the combined force resulting from encounters and exchanges. I plead for greater liberty and a more open world because it provides a setting which liberates individuals and their creativity as no other system can. It spurs the dynamism which has led to human, economic, scientific, and technical advances, and which will continue to do so.”
“Believing in capitalism does not mean believing in growth, the economy, or efficiency. Desirable as these may be, these are only the results. Belief in capitalism is, fundamentally, belief in mankind.”
“Capitalism has given people both the liberty and the incentive to create, produce, and trade, thereby generating prosperity.”
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“Many entrepreneurs have a “can do” attitude, which is often a requirement if you want to succeed. Unfortunately, this attitude often leads to a dangerous mindset where you feel like you need to do everything yourself.”
“In the affluent world we have had capitalism in one form or another for a couple of centuries. That is how countries of the West became "the affluent world." Capitalism has given people both the liberty and the incentive to create, produce, and trade, thereby generating prosperity.”
“My aim is freedom and voluntary relations in all fields. The market economy is the result of this in the economic realm; in the cultural realm it means freedom of expression; in politics, democracy and the rule of law; in social life, the right to live according to one's own values and to choose one's company.”
“Poverty is not just a material problem. Poverty is something wider: it is about powerlessness, about being deprived of basic opportunities and freedom of choice.”
“Since 1965 the richest fifth of the world's population increased its average income by 75 percent. For the poorest fifth of the world's population, the increase has been faster still, with average incomes more than doubling during the same period.”
“The growth of world prosperity is not a "miracle" or any of the other mystifying terms we customarily apply to countries that have succeeded economically and socially. Schools are not built, nor are incomes generated, by sheer luck, like a bolt from the blue. These things happen when people begin to think along new lines and work hard to bring their ideas to fruition. But people do that everywhere, and there is no reason why certain people in certain places during certain periods in history should be intrinsically smarter or more capable than others. What makes the difference is whether the environment permits and encourages ideas and work, or instead puts obstacles in their way. That depends on whether people are free to explore their way ahead, to own property, to invest for the long term, to conclude private agreements, and to trade with others. In short, it depends on whether or not the countries have capitalism.”
“The uneven distribution of wealth in the world is due to the uneven distribution of capitalism.”
“When I say that I mean to defend capitalism, what I have in mind is the capitalistic freedom to proceed by trial and error, without having to ask rulers and border officials for permission first. That is the liberty that I once thought anarchy would bring, but under the control of laws ensuring that one person's freedom will not encroach on other people's. I want everyone to have that liberty in abundance. If the critics of capitalism feel that we already have a superabundance of that liberty today, I would like to have more still – a super duper abundance if possible – especially for the poor of the world's population, who as things now stand have little say regarding their work and consumption.”
Progress Quotes
“A child born today is more likely to reach retirement age than his forebears were to live to their fifth birthday.”
“Despite what we hear on the news and from many authorities, the great story of our era is that we are witnessing the greatest improvement in global living standards ever to take place.”
“it seems that the only way for terrorists to win is if its victims overreact, dismantle civil liberties and blame whole groups for the actions of a few. Doing so stirs up the very conflicts that the terrorists seek and makes it easier to recruit terrorists and continue the battle.”
“It was not superior thinkers, inventors or businesses that made Europe rich, but the fact that European elites were less successful in obstructing them... This is somewhat similar to our era of globalization. More countries, in more places, now have access to the sum of humanity's knowledge, and are open to the best innovations from other places... If progress is blocked in one place, many others will continue humanity's journey.”