The man who is admired for the ingenuity of his larceny is almost always rediscovering some earlier form of fraud. The basic forms are all known, have all been practiced. The manners of capitalism improve. The morals may not.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Innovative larceny is often just rediscovered fraud; capitalism improves manners but not necessarily morals.
- In plain terms
- New fraud is just old fraud; capitalism manners improve but not morals.
- What can you take from it?
- Business practices evolve without moral progress.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can business ethics exist without moral progress?
- Is innovation always ethical?
Another view
It presents a cynical view of capitalism without nuance.
More from John Kenneth Galbraith
Of all classes the rich are the most noticed and the least studied.
Permalink to quote #28 All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door. The violence of revolutions is the violence of men who charge into a vacuum.
Permalink to quote #30 The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.
Permalink to quote #27
Related quotes
Business - the world's work - is the sale of lies: Not goods, but trade-marks; and still more and more In every branch becomes the sale of money.
John DavidsonJohn Davidson quote #1 Your Dollar is your only Word, The wrath of it your only fear. You build it altars tall enough To make you see, but your are blind; You cannot leave it long en…
Edwin Arlington RobinsonEdwin Arlington Robinson quote #1 I think that the decision to nominate the story for a Pulitzer is of minimal consequence. I also think that it won is of little consequence. It is a brilliant …
Bob WoodwardBob Woodward quote #2