American style
“Economic systems,” according to Professor White, “are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, ‘with us whether we want them or not.’”
British style uses single quotes (‘) for initial quotations, then double quotes (“) for quotations within the initial quotation.
British style
‘Economic systems’, according to Professor White, ‘are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, “with us whether we want them or not”’.
Could be following British convention.
https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/british-versus-american-style.html
EDIT: Though if so, he’s not doing so later in the article.
TIL
American style “Economic systems,” according to Professor White, “are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, ‘with us whether we want them or not.’”
British style uses single quotes (‘) for initial quotations, then double quotes (“) for quotations within the initial quotation.
British style ‘Economic systems’, according to Professor White, ‘are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, “with us whether we want them or not”’.
British style looks better and more functional
This is why English does the thing. Thank you! Its something I noticed and know but couldn’t put into words.