in the long run

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in the long run

1. (idiomatic) After a very long time; eventually; over a long period of time; more generally.
   • 1923, John Maynard Keynes, chapter 3, in A Tract on Monetary Reform, page 80:

     But this long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.

   • 1951, Arthur C. Clarke, The Exploration of Space, page 111:

     If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one — the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.

• in the long term

• in the short run
• in the short term

• long term (noun), long-term (adjective)
• short term (noun), short-term (adjective)