I'm an American. I'm for prosperity. I've discovered, from…

“I'm an American. I'm for prosperity. I've discovered, from 40 years of reporting, that what creates prosperity is limited government.”

John Stossel

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Prosperity comes from restricting government size and influence.

In simple terms: Limited government drives prosperity.

Key Takeaway

Support smaller government.

Themes

economics politics freedom

Mood

analytical critical

Type

political economic

When to use this quote

policy debates
business planning
public budgeting
entrepreneurship
civic education

Key Concepts

libertarianism market dynamics

Questions to Reflect On

How does government size affect economic growth?
What limits should exist on government?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on size may ignore quality of governance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

More by John Stossel

Fraud will always exist. Enforcement of anti-fraud laws is a useful deterrent, but in the end there's no substitute for investor vigilance. Government regulations…

John Stossel

The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…

John Stossel

“If overpopulation or lack of resources created poverty, then Hong Kong should be poor. Hong Kong has 20 times as many people per square…

John Stossel

But nothing is better than the market, where the customer and the business deal directly with each other, because if you rip people off,…

John Stossel

The people who have the biggest passion for restricting other people's behavior are the very people we should worry about most. Unfortunately, they keep…

John Stossel

Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose.

John Stossel

What I've learned in 40 years of consumer reporting is that the market is imperfect, and some people get ripped off.

John Stossel

Patrick Henry did not say, 'Give me absolutely safety or give me death.' America is supposed to be about freedom.

John Stossel

Asking someone in the media about liberal bias is like asking a fish about water. 'Huh, what are you talking about? Where is it?'

John Stossel

Government is so big today that more than half the population gets a major part of its income from the state.

John Stossel

“Cornelius Vanderbilt and his fellow tycoon John D. Rockefeller were often called 'robber barons'. Newspapers said they were evil, and ran cartoons showing Vanderbilt…

John Stossel

A handful of people who probably never even ran a small business actually think they can reinvent the health care system.

John Stossel

Freedom works, and government, when it grows beyond the barest minimum, keeps people poor.

John Stossel

“In 1999 the National Research Council concluded that 'the total exposure to naturally occurring carcinogens exceeds the exposure to synthetic carcinogens.'... The point was…

John Stossel

Markets are too complex to manipulate beneficially.

John Stossel

Explore all 102 John Stossel quotes

More Government quotes

We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…

Ashraf Ghani

For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…

Nicola Sturgeon

“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…

Steven Magee

Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.

Ilkin Santak

Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…

Amity Shlaes

One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…

Matthew Lesko

It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.

Edward Snowden

Louisiana's spicy, colorful politics have saddled our state with a reputation for tolerating lax ethical standards in government.

John Kennedy

Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…

Greg Perry

It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…

Tulsi Gabbard

He is almost a statesman. He lies well.

Napoleon Bonaparte

If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?

Noam Chomsky

I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…

Stephen Breyer