Ayn Rand Quotes

I believe in markets before mandates.

If all political parties are committed to the role of the free market, the politicians act as, I don't know, as traffic policemen; they stand outside the ring and let the real decisions be slugged out by entrepreneurs. That doesn't seem to me a proper democracy.

The free market is ugly and stupid, like going to the mall; the unfree market is just as ugly and just as stupid, except there is nothing in the mall and if you don't go there they shoot you.

I am a strong believer in the free market. I am a strong believer in capitalism. But, I am also a strong believer that there are certain common goods - our air, our water, making sure that people are safe - that require to have some regulation.

I'm offended by any suggestion that we have to beat groups of people over the head with an economic club [higher taxes] to keep them from exercising their freedom of choice in the marketplace.

The best way for you to keep Government out of your business is to promote competition.

if the exclusive privileges conferred upon the Louisiana corporation can be sustained, it is not perceived why exclusive privileges for the construction and keeping of ovens, machines, grindstones, wine-presses, and for all the numerous trades and pursuits for the prosecution of which buildings are required, may not be equally bestowed upon other corporations or private individuals, and for periods of indefinite duration.

Markets are smart and governments are dumb.

Whereas the Conservatives aimed at dealing with this problem by protection and the Liberal solution proceeded on the lines of seeking to free industry, as far as possible.

I started out by viewing the marketplace as a cruel place, where you need intervention by government and lawyers to protect people. But after watching the regulators work, I have come to believe that markets are magical and the best protectors of the consumer. It is my job to explain the beauties of the free market.

As free-market champion Friedrich Hayek saw it, guarenteeing everyone a subsistance income was the moral precondition for opposing broader socialist schemes to equalize income. For Milton Fried, it was an opportunity to eleminate expensive layers of government bureaucracy.

I love trade. I love trade. First, it's economic freedom. It's the freedom to buy, sell, and compete with as little government interference as possible. Secondly, it's a jobs issue.

The remarkable fact is not how much government does to control economic activity, but how much it does not do.

I've started several small businesses myself and know that it is tough out there for the little guy in the global economy. I came to the conclusion that, oftentimes, the best thing the government can do for small business is to stay out of the way.

When people are desperate or wealthy, they turn to socialism; only when they have no other alternative do they embrace the free market. After all, lies about guaranteed security are far more seductive than lectures about personal responsibility.

I am one who believes that the market, properly incentivized, can consistently outperform government regulation on achieving objectives.

We want a free market, but we know that the paradox of a 'free' market is that sometimes you have to intervene. You have to make sure it's not the law of the jungle but the laws of democracy that works.

It doesn't really matter who owns things so long there is enough competition, which means lower pricing, better quality goods, more variety, and an economy where the consumers are the big winners.

I support social market economy. But it only works if there is fair competition.

There is not one grain of anything in the world that is sold in the free market. Not one. The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians.

Depressions and mass unemployment are not caused by the free market but by government interference in the economy.

It is better to have a cat and mouse game where the cat has the upper hand than a cat and mouse game where the mice are ruling. Because the latter means that the market participants are given free range. That was actually the big misconception of our national hero Ronald Reagan, who always talked about the magic of the market.

I think things that contribute to the destruction of our free-incentive system are wrong. A trend against that free-incentive system is wrong, and should only be temporarily engaged in, in the event that war or something of that kind requires it. Otherwise, it should be reduced.

When laissez-faire creates instability, the move to a freer market can be something less than pure gain.

I thought of myself as an atheist until I realized it was a belief, too. It's a shame everything has to have a label. I feel that if I was figuratively dropped on the Earth and there was a political line, I would be just left of center. The difference for me is that conservatives are more interested in property values and rights and free markets, and liberals are more interested in human rights. In the end, there are people who don't fit into the marketplace and are not equipped. I believe the government should step in where the free market fails.