The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.

Personal freedom has grown greatly within China, and that will provoke ever more points of conflict between the individual and state.

There have been unions based on gold or silver, but not on fiat money - money tempted to inflate - put out by politically independent entities.

I think in some ways it would make more sense to have as a poverty level a relative concept and say, the level of poverty is that level of income or that level of consumption below which 10 percent of the people now are.

Every friend of freedom... must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.

We do not influence the course of events by persuading people that we are right when we make what they regard as radical proposals. Rather, we exert influence by keeping options available when something has to be done at a time of crisis.

I think almost every economist would agree that government gets itself in trouble when it tries to interfere with voluntary behavior.