WIST Quotations

Stein, Herb -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 12:39:22 +0000

Economists are very good at saying that something cannot go on forever, but not so good at saying when it will stop.

Herb Stein (1916–1999) American economist
(Attributed)

Stein, Herb -- The Triumph of the Adaptive Society (1989)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:04:01 +0000

Capitalism survived its crisis and went on to great successes. But the capitalism that survived and succeeded was not the capitalism of 1929.

Herb Stein (1916–1999) American economist
The Triumph of the Adaptive Society (1989)

Stein, Herb -- Stein’s Law (1980s)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.

Herb Stein (1916–1999) American economist
Stein’s Law (1980s)

This was a frequent statement by Stein. He explained it so:

This proposition, arising first in a discussion of the balance-of-payments deficit, is a response to those who think that if something cannot go on forever, steps must be taken to stop it -- even to stop it at once.

Variants:

"If something can’t go on forever, it won’t."
Anything that can’t go on, won’t.
Trends that can't continue won't.