Markets respond not to political pressures channeled through various committees, subcommittees, lobbies, and special interests but to the immediacies and exigencies of the economy - in other words, what's happening now.

To best serve the public happiness, government shouldn't do things it cannot do well - anymore than Wal-Mart should provide goods and services that people don't like.

Instead of doing more badly, government should focus on doing less well.

The more government does, the greater chance that its efforts will be tilted toward a particular group's good, instead of the common good.

Like some great swelling river, the powers of the federal government have today breached their constitutional levees and spilled into countless areas of life never anticipated by the founders.

Markets help people pursue their happiness more efficiently and effectively. Because they are so effective, markets provide benefits right here and right now, even while government is busy batching the protection of happiness.

Political changes and reforms do not usually favor the general populace. They benefit those who are positioned to best organize and advocate for their policies.