Macroeconomics, even with all of our computers and with all of our information - is not an exact science and is incapable of being an exact science.

Self-deception ultimately explains Japan's plight. The Japanese have never accepted that change is in their interest - and not merely a response to U.S. criticism.

There is something in people; you might even call it a little bit of a gambling instinct… I tell people investing should be dull. It shouldn't be exciting. Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.

What we know about the global financial crisis is that we don't know very much.

Mea culpa, mea culpa. MIT and Wharton and University of Chicago created the financial engineering instruments, which, like Samson and Delilah, blinded every CEO. They didn't realize the kind of leverage they were doing and they didn't understand when they were really creating a real profit or a fictitious one.

Asia's governments come in two broad varieties: young, fragile democracies - and older, fragile authoritarian regimes.

Globalization presumes sustained economic growth. Otherwise, the process loses its economic benefits and political support.