Government Quotes by Thomas Sowell

There are only two economists in Congress and hundreds of lawyers. Does that explain why the government is in such a mess?

— Thomas Sowell

It is amazing how many people seem to think that the government exists to turn their prejudices into law.

— Thomas Sowell

Government bailouts are like potato chips: You can't stop with just one.

— Thomas Sowell

Government restrictions are attractive to people who want to impose their pet notions without having to count the costs.

— Thomas Sowell

Those government officials who want more power are not going to stop unless they get stopped.

— Thomas Sowell

Competition does a much more effective job than government at protecting consumers.

— Thomas Sowell

“stability of government and dependability of laws which attracted foreigners.”

— Thomas Sowell

Government central planning means over-riding other people's plans.

— Thomas Sowell

Both history and contemporary data show that countries prosper more when there are stable and dependable rules, under which people can make…

— Thomas Sowell

Life in general has never been even close to fair, so the pretense that the government can make it fair is a…

— Thomas Sowell

It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can…

— Thomas Sowell

Much of the world today, including the United States, is still living in the social, cultural, and political aftermath of Britain's cultural…

— Thomas Sowell

People who know nothing about advertising, nothing about pharmaceuticals, and nothing about economics have been loudly proclaiming that the drug companies spend…

— Thomas Sowell

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the…

— Thomas Sowell

After the risky mortgage-lending practices fostered by government intervention led to massive defaults and foreclosures that caused financial institutions to collapse or…

— Thomas Sowell

Even if the government spends itself into bankruptcy and the economy still does not recover, Keynesians can always say that it would…

— Thomas Sowell

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Think things, not words." In words, many see a need for "social justice" to override "the dictates of…

— Thomas Sowell

However little president Obama knows or cares about economics, he knows a lot about politics - and especially political rhetoric. 'High-speed rail'…

— Thomas Sowell

People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in creationism in government. In other words, they believe that the universe and…

— Thomas Sowell

The government has brought on the housing problem, partly by these very low interest rates, which encouraged many people to go way…

— Thomas Sowell

Virtually everything that the government does costs more than when the same thing is done in private industry - whether it is…

— Thomas Sowell

Congressman Frank and Senator Dodd wanted the government to push financial institutions to lend to people they would not lend to otherwise,…

— Thomas Sowell

One of the biggest reasons for higher medical costs is that somebody else is paying those costs, whether an insurance company or…

— Thomas Sowell

If increased government spending with borrowed or newly created money is a 'stimulus,' then the Weimar Republic should have been stimulated to…

— Thomas Sowell

Most Americans living below the official poverty line own a car or truck - and government entitlement programs seldom provide cars and…

— Thomas Sowell

While President Barack Obama has, in one sense, tipped his hand by saying that he wants judges with "empathy" for certain groups,…

— Thomas Sowell

“A mere enumeration of government activity is evidence -- often the sole evidence offered -- of "inadequate" nongovernment institutions, whose "inability" to…

— Thomas Sowell

The government is neither a monolith nor simply the public interest personified.

— Thomas Sowell

What is politically defined as economic planning is the forcible superseding of other people's plans by Government officials.

— Thomas Sowell

The most basic function of government is to provide a framework of law and order, within which the people are free to…

— Thomas Sowell

Government's power to bully people who have broken no law is dangerous to all of us.

— Thomas Sowell

The more people who are dependent on government handouts, the more votes the left can depend on for an ever-expanding welfare state.

— Thomas Sowell

High tax rates that people don't actually pay do not bring the government as much revenue as lower tax rates that they…

— Thomas Sowell

Government cannot solve all our problems, even in normal times, much less during a catastrophe of nature that reminds man how little…

— Thomas Sowell

'Fair' is one of the most dangerous concepts in politics. Since no two people are likely to agree on what is 'fair,'…

— Thomas Sowell

Wise men wrote the Constitution, but clever judges have been destroying it, bit by bit, turning it into an instrument of arbitrary…

— Thomas Sowell

Hyperinflation can take virtually your entire life's savings, without the government having to bother raising the official tax rate at all.

— Thomas Sowell

[A]ffirmative action in the United States has made blacks. . .who have largely lifted themselves out of poverty, look like people who…

— Thomas Sowell

“As history has also shown, especially in the twentieth century, one of the first things an ideologue will do after achieving absolute…

— Thomas Sowell

Study after study, not only here but in other countries, show that the most affordable housing is where there has been the…

— Thomas Sowell