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" People aren't as impressed by homes anymore after they saw how they collapsed in price with the financial crisis. "

Robert J. Shiller

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" All taxes, except a 'lump-sum tax,' introduce distortions in the economy. But no government can impose a lump-sum tax - the same amount for everyone regardless of their income or expenditures - because it would fall heaviest on those with less income, and it would grind the poor, who might be unable to pay it at all. "

Robert J. Shiller

" People might just decide, 'Yeah, I'll diversify my portfolio. I'll live in a rental.' That is a very sensible thing for many people to do. "

Robert J. Shiller

" People who stay unemployed for a long time start to look like damaged goods, and they don't get such good offers. Also, they're not learning anything. Most learning is on-the-job learning. "

Robert J. Shiller

" This is the paradox of thrift: belt-tightening causes people to lose their jobs, because other people are not buying what they produce, so their debt burden rises rather than falls. "

Robert J. Shiller

" The future is always coming up with surprises for us, and the best way to insulate yourself from these surprises is to diversify. "

Robert J. Shiller

" I want to know diverse facts about such things as galaxies or molecules or proteins or insect species. I have an impulse to want to know the little details, which are usually of no significance to non-specialists. I own a dissection microscope, and if there is an insect in the house, I sometimes catch it and look at it under the microscope. "

Robert J. Shiller

" I didn't vote for Trump. So we've got him. Let's hope for the best. He might do something good. "

Robert J. Shiller

" When valuation confidence falls, it means that stock markets are perceived as overpriced. "

Robert J. Shiller

" This is an anxiety driven world - the whole world is driven by anxiety. It is anxiety about the aftermath of the global financial crisis; it's anxiety about inequality and about computers replacing jobs. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Fifty years ago or a hundred years ago, generally, most people would buy a house the way you buy a car. When you buy a car, do you think, 'I better buy this year rather than next year because car prices might go up?' "

Robert J. Shiller

" I think we do need to try to not just rely on the central bank to, in its wisdom, adjust interest rates, but allow for people to avoid being exposed to inflation risk. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Hesitation is often like procrastination. One may have vague doubts and feel a need to mull things over; meanwhile, other issues intrude on thought, and no decision is taken. Ask people why they procrastinate, and you probably won't get a crisp answer. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Diversify, because that helps reduce risk. And you can diversify outside the United States. Some people would never invest in Europe - I think that's a mistake. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Trump has never been clear and consistent about what he will do as president. "

Robert J. Shiller

" If I was counselling an individual, and my purpose was to help that individual, the most important thing would be that you should save more. Because don't expect that your retirement will follow those trajectories that some advisers are telling you. "

Robert J. Shiller

" The problem is that once we focus on economic policy, much that is not science comes into play. Politics becomes involved, and political posturing is amply rewarded by public attention. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Critics of 'economic sciences' sometimes refer to the development of a 'pseudoscience' of economics, arguing that it uses the trappings of science, like dense mathematics, but only for show. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Trump's victory clearly appears to stem from a sense of economic powerlessness, or a fear of losing power, among his supporters. To them, his simple slogan, 'Make America great again,' sounds like 'Make You great again': economic power will be given to the multitudes without taking anything away from the already successful. "

Robert J. Shiller

" That's the world we live in: when it comes to economics, people have emotions; it's not like chemistry or physics. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Manufacturers of food try to get the optimal ratio to tap into your impulsivity. They don't care about your health. "

Robert J. Shiller

" We judge economics by what it can produce. As such, economics is rather more like engineering than physics: more practical than spiritual. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Any time you have change, it costs somebody. Somebody is a loser. "

Robert J. Shiller

" In a bubble, eventually people start saying, 'Wait a minute... these prices are way too high! What is anyone buying anymore? What could they possibly be thinking?' And then there's a correction and a bursting. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Even today, I am easily distracted by reading material and will pick up articles on virtually any factual material if I have the time. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Some of the best theorizing comes after collecting data because then you become aware of another reality. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Housing traditionally is not viewed as a great investment. It takes maintenance; it depreciates. It goes out of style. All of those are problems. And there's technical progress in housing. So, new ones are better. So, why was it considered an investment? That was a fad. "

Robert J. Shiller

" We should not be focusing on quick solutions. The really important concern for policymakers everywhere is to prevent disasters - that is, the outlier events that matter the most. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Somehow, talking to young students brings you back to reality - it should, anyway. "

Robert J. Shiller

" One thing I've noticed about history - you can search on newspapers going back hundreds of years, search for 'economic forecast,' you don't find it. It would be very rare to find it. "

Robert J. Shiller

" Those on the downside of rising economic inequality generally do not want government policies that look like handouts. They typically do not want the government to make the tax system more progressive, to impose punishing taxes on the rich, in order to give the money to them. Redistribution feels demeaning. It feels like being labeled a failure. "

Robert J. Shiller