There is no such thing as economics, only social science applied to economic problems.
Kenneth E. BouldingEconomics, we learn in the history of thought, only became a science by escaping from the casuistry and moralizing of medieval thought.
Kenneth E. BouldingThe thing that distinguishes social systems from physical or even biological systems is their incomparable (and embarrassing) richness in special cases. Generalizations in the social sciences are mere pathways which lead through a riotous forest of individual trees, each a species unto itself. The social scientist who loses this sense of the essential individuality and uniqueness of each case is all too likely to make a solemn scientific ass of himself, especially if he thinks that his faceless generalizations are the equivalents of the rich vareity of the world.
Kenneth E. BouldingThe tourist business is a trap, it is a tained honey; Man clearly should have stayed in bed, and not invented money.
Kenneth E. BouldingThe concept of need is often looked upon rather unfavorably by economists, in contrast with the concept of demand. Both, however, have their own strengths and weaknesses. The need concept is criticized as being too mechanical, as denying the autonomy and individuality of the human person, and as implying that the human being is a machine which "needs" fuel in the shape of food, engine dope in the shape of medicine, and spare parts provided by the surgeon.
Kenneth E. Boulding