Economists must always be prepared for surprises: they find many in trying to find order in the universe of their study.

It was at the graduate school at Columbia University that I first met Wesley C. Mitchell, with whom I was associated for many years at the National Bureau of Economic Research and to whom I owe a great intellectual debt.

The dynamic drives of modern economic growth, in the countries that entered the process ahead of others, meant a reaching out geographically; and the sequential spread of the process, facilitated by major changes in transport and communication, meant a continuous expansion to the less developed areas.

Success in war and preservation of a country's social framework as a purpose at least equal in importance to welfare of individuals.

Blip.tv is growing its audience by forming partnerships with traditional TV manufacturers and a new breed of company in the set-top box market that lets consumers connect to the Internet via their televisions.

That which today calls itself science gives us more and more information, and indigestible glut of information, and less and less understanding.

I just get my news from the Internet.

The construction of extensive railways, however, and particularly the consolidation of small, experimental lines into large systems, dates from the days of the discovery of gold in California.