--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The government never minds having more…" description: "\"“The government never minds having more power, and is always prepared to paper over the problems it creates. An economy not bludgeoned by powerful elit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/jeffrey-tucker-20132_economics_the-government-never-minds-having-more-p_1638429.jpg" --- # The government never minds having more power, and is… ![“The government never minds having more power, and is always prepared to paper over the problems it creates. An economy not bludgeoned by powerful elites is the ideal we should seek, even if it has a name that is wildly unpopular: capitalism” quote by Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/jeffrey-tucker-20132_economics_the-government-never-minds-having-more-p_1638429.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/jeffrey-tucker-20132_economics_the-government-never-minds-having-more-p_1638429.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/jeffrey-tucker-20132_economics_the-government-never-minds-having-more-p_1638429.jpg) > ““The government never minds having more power, and is always prepared to paper over the problems it creates. An economy not bludgeoned by powerful elites is the ideal we should seek, even if it has a name that is wildly unpopular: capitalism”” [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Powerful governments tend to expand and conceal their own failures; a truly free economy, even if unpopular, avoids elite domination. **In simple terms:** Governments hide problems; free markets resist elite control. Key Takeaway Support policies that limit governmental overreach. Themes power government economics elite control capitalism Mood critical analytical Type political economic When to use this quote - activism - voting - community organizing - economic education Key Concepts libertarianism political economy public policy Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens effectively curb governmental overreach? - What are the risks of labeling capitalism as unpopular? A Different Perspective Power can be checked but may still influence markets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Creates Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creates-economy-545620/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Elites Ideal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elites-ideal-545618/) [Government Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-minds-545619/) [Having Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-power/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Mises-institute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mises-institute-123251/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tucker/) [Unpopular Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unpopular-capitalism-545617/) ## Related quotes > [“The market economy is delivering miracles by the minute and yet we hardly notice or care; worse, we denounce the realization of this dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/the-market-economy-is-delivering-miracles-by-the-minute-and-yet-we/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [A society in which vocation and job are separated for most people gradually creates an economy that is often devoid of spirit, one that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/a-society-in-which-vocation-and-job-are-separated-for-most-people/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [It is ridiculous to assume you can tax the people that are working and give the money (to people) who are not working and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaron-brook/it-is-ridiculous-to-assume-you-can-tax-the-people-that-are-working/) [Yaron Brook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yaron-brook/) > [A wise person is one who does not retaliate despite having the power to do so](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-wise-person-is-one-who-does-not-retaliate-despite-having-the-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think having power ingrains people with a conservatism. There's a tendency to hedge one's bets. (Which explains a lot, actually, about why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-think-having-power-ingrains-people-with-a-conservatism-there-s-a/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [To me, nothing is more vibrant than having the power to do something but not having the experience of knowing what's right and what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tibor-kalman/to-me-nothing-is-more-vibrant-than-having-the-power-to-do-something/) [Tibor Kalman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tibor-kalman/) > [All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/all-men-having-power-ought-to-be-distrusted-to-a-certain-degree/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I want there to be a life for the street element. Instead of we always getting shut out. Instead of defenseless, having power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/i-want-there-to-be-a-life-for-the-street-element-instead-of-we-always/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [The only point of having power it seems to me is to empower others. The only point of leadership is to inspire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/the-only-point-of-having-power-it-seems-to-me-is-to-empower-others/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [I think a lot of times people look at me and say, 'Well, we can't possibly hand a show over to her to run.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/i-think-a-lot-of-times-people-look-at-me-and-say-well-we-can-t/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [I don't want to say that having power is overrated, but powerlessness can give rise to a different kind of authority, and that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-don-t-want-to-say-that-having-power-is-overrated-but-powerlessness/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Those people who know you like them but don't like you back and who just enjoy having that power over you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/those-people-who-know-you-like-them-but-don-t-like-you-back-and-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nobody that I know really likes the feeling of having no power and not being able to influence people. But most of us aren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/nobody-that-i-know-really-likes-the-feeling-of-having-no-power-and/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“What is the point of having all this power if you can’t force people to do what you want?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-gregoire/what-is-the-point-of-having-all-this-power-if-you-can-t-force-people/) [Ian Gregoire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-gregoire/) > [Having power and being in a position of power can really blur your judgement, and it's not always that clear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/having-power-and-being-in-a-position-of-power-can-really-blur-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jeffrey Tucker > [“The progress of the last 500 years shows us precisely what the good ideas are: social harmony, human rights, the aspiration of universal dignity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/the-progress-of-the-last-500-years-shows-us-precisely-what-the-good/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [“...the story of liberty and its future is not only about the raw assertion of rights but also about grace, aesthetics, beauty, complexity, service…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/the-story-of-liberty-and-its-future-is-not-only-about-the-raw/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [“But now I understand something more fully that I once only understood abstractly. I see how utterly ridiculous it is to think that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/but-now-i-understand-something-more-fully-that-i-once-only-understood/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [Here is a principle to use in all aspects of economics and policy. When you find a good or service that is in huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/here-is-a-principle-to-use-in-all-aspects-of-economics-and-policy/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [Anarchy is all around us. Without it, our world would fall apart. All progress is due to it. All order extends from it. 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The very prospect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/the-world-has-changed-to-permit-ever-more-people-in-all-corners-of/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [Here we have the heart of the difference between Hayek and Keynes: one knew that markets work to give us the best of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/here-we-have-the-heart-of-the-difference-between-hayek-and-keynes-one/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [“It's WW2 and there are wage controls in place. Instead of health care, companies decide to offer employees shoes. Having absorbed those costs, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/it-s-ww2-and-there-are-wage-controls-in-place-instead-of-health-care/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [I'm not for pretending that bad stuff doesn't exist, and a passion for justice and truth is a libertarian trait. But the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/i-m-not-for-pretending-that-bad-stuff-doesn-t-exist-and-a-passion-for/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [Someone asked me the other day if I believe in conspiracies. Well, sure. Here's one. It is called the political system. It is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/someone-asked-me-the-other-day-if-i-believe-in-conspiracies-well-sure/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [Liberty is not about class war, income war, race war, national war, a war between the sexes, or any other conflict apart from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/liberty-is-not-about-class-war-income-war-race-war-national-war-a-war/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) > [“He urges them to stop believing that they are “conservative” and should therefore tolerate a little the drift into fascism, the better to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tucker/he-urges-them-to-stop-believing-that-they-are-conservative-and-should/) [Jeffrey Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) [Explore all 31 Jeffrey Tucker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tucker/) ## More Capitalism quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. 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Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [Corporations have nothing to do with values, and they know it, and sometimes say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kierans/corporations-have-nothing-to-do-with-values-and-they-know-it-and/) [Eric Kierans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kierans/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. 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Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-a-harper/) > [The free market is ugly and stupid, like going to the mall; the unfree market is just as ugly and just as stupid, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-free-market-is-ugly-and-stupid-like-going-to-the-mall-the-unfree/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Capitalism, communism ... it's all garbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mstislav-rostropovich/capitalism-communism-it-s-all-garbage/) [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mstislav-rostropovich/) > [There are no two countries with the same style of economic mechanism, with the same capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/there-are-no-two-countries-with-the-same-style-of-economic-mechanism/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan.Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/historically-usury-was-defined-as-any-interest-whatever-on-an/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Socialism is humanity's second nature. 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