The current focus on reducing the role of the market maker is penny wise and pound foolish, and could prove costly in the future.

ECONOMIST: Letters

The climate of uncertainty caused by deadlock in Washington is leading to penny-wise, pound foolish behavior at all levels of government, and Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) felt the pain severely in the third quarter.

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Nonetheless, in a penny-wise, pound-foolish manner, we have been prematurely reverting facilities and resources years before the treaty requires.

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The Crawleys have proven to be pound-foolish once again.

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In this era of global conflict, such penny-foolish-and-pound-reckless measures could prove not only to be harmful in the short run, but possibly disastrous in the long run.

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But unless he is foolish enough to imagine that defence of the pound can win him a general election as well as a European one, he has yet to produce a big idea that can challenge a Labour government that has seized the political centre.

ECONOMIST: Man overboard