Accounting Quote by Hans F. Sennholz
“When individual enterprise is free and unhampered, profit-and-loss calculations set precise limits to a businessman's temptations to expand his services... a government valuable they may be, have no market price and, therefore, cannot be subjected to profit-and-loss accounting.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Role of Government in a Free Market, Hans F. Sennholz, 1975
Free markets self‑regulate through profit and loss; government lacks a price signal, leading to inefficiency.
In simple terms: Markets use profit‑loss; government does not.
Key Takeaway
Limit government scope for efficiency.
Themes
economics
government
market theory
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
economic
political
When to use this quote
- policy analysis
- business planning
- public budgeting
Key Concepts
profit‑loss accounting
government intervention
resource allocation
Questions to Reflect On
- When should government intervene?
- What are the costs of over‑regulation?
A Different Perspective
Government can address market failures that profit‑loss cannot.
![“The [liberals] consider profits as objectionable. The very existence of profits is in their eyes a proof that wage rates could be raised without harm to anybody. They speak of profit without dealing with loss. Profit and loss are the instruments by means of which the consumers keep a tight rein on…” quote by Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b1d/ludwig-von-mises-364_abolish_the-liberals-consider-profits-as-objecti_187906.jpg)
