Walter E. Williams Quotes - Page 5

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You can bet the rent money that whatever politicians do will end up harming consumers. ... Economic ignorance is to politicians what idle hands are to the devil. Both provide the workshop for the creation of evil.

Walter E. Williams

Ignorance, Hands, Evil

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If grade inflation continues, a college bachelor's degree will have just as much credibility as a high school diploma.

Walter E. Williams

School, College, Degrees

Walter E. Williams (2015). “American Contempt for Liberty”, p.208, Hoover Institution Press

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In 302, the Roman emperor Diocletian commanded "there should be cheapness," declaring, "Unprincipled greed appears wherever our armies ... march. ... Our law shall fix a measure and a limit to this greed." The predictable result of Diocletian's food price controls were black markets, hunger and food confiscation by his soldiers. Despite the disastrous history of price controls, politicians never manage to resist tampering with prices -- that's not a flattering observation of their learning abilities.

Walter E. Williams

Army, Law, Greed

"Economics for the Citizen (Part 9)". capitalismmagazine.com. January 20, 2005.

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It was Thomas Jefferson who said that we should not allow the courts to have a monopoly on the interpretation of what is constitutional and what is not.

Walter E. Williams

Monopoly, Should, Court

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No human should be coerced by the state to bear the medical expense, or any other expense, for his fellow man. In other words, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another is morally offensive.

Walter E. Williams

Men, Purpose, Use

Walter E. Williams (2013). “Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays”, p.100, Hoover Press

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The belief that society benefits from destruction is lunacy.

Walter E. Williams

Benefits, Belief, Destruction

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Wal-Mart has become the whipping boy for political demagogues, unions and anti-traders. I suggest that they have the wrong target.... Wal-Mart exists and prospers because tens of millions of Americans find Wal-Mart to be a suitable source of goods and services..... unions and anti-traders should direct their outrage and condemnation at the tens of millions of Americans who shop at Wal-Mart and keep it in business.

Walter E. Williams

Boys, Political, Target

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It's people seeking more for themselves that has produced a better life for all Americans.

Walter E. Williams

People, Better Life, Seeking

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Profit is vital to human well-being. Profit is the payment to entrepreneurs just as wages are payments to labor, interest to capital and rent to land. In order to earn profits in free markets, entrepreneurs must identify and satisfy human wants and do so in a way that economizes on society's scarce resources.

Walter E. Williams

Order, Land, Entrepreneur

Walter E. Williams (2015). “American Contempt for Liberty”, p.351, Hoover Institution Press

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Tariff policy beneficiaries are always visible, but its victims are mostly invisible. Politicians love this. The reason is simple: The beneficiaries know for whom to cast their ballots, and the victims don't know whom to blame for their calamity.

Walter E. Williams

Simple, Tariffs, Blame

Walter E. Williams (2013). “Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays”, p.209, Hoover Press

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Charity is reaching into one's own pockets to assist his fellow man in need. Reaching into someone else's pocket to assist one's fellow man hardly qualifies as charity. When done privately, we deem it theft, and the individual risks jail time.

Walter E. Williams

Men, Jail Time, Risk

Walter E. Williams (2013). “Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays”, p.112, Hoover Press

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The freedom of individuals from compulsion or coercion never was, and is not now, the normal state of human affairs. The normal state for the ordinary person is tyranny, arbitrary control and abuse mainly by their own government.

Walter E. Williams

Government, Abuse, Normal

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The only organized political party with a Christian vision of morality is the Libertarian Party.

Walter E. Williams

Christian, Party, Political

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There are many farm handouts; but let's call them what they really are: a form of legalized theft. Essentially, a congressman tells his farm constituency, "Vote for me. I'll use my office to take another American's money and give it to you."

Walter E. Williams

Office, Giving, Liberty

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...[I]f we care about our remaining liberties we must at some point draw a line in the sand and let politicians and bureaucrats know we will not tolerate further encroachment on our God-given rights to liberty.

Walter E. Williams

Rights, Liberty, Care

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In general, presidents and congressmen have very limited power to do good for the economy and awesome power to do bad. The best good thing that politicians can do for the economy is to stop doing bad. In part, this can be achieved through reducing taxes and economic regulation, and staying out of our lives.

Walter E. Williams

President, Regulation, Politician

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An increasing amount of climate research suggests a possibility of global cooling.

Walter E. Williams

Climate, Research, Possibility

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Maybe I'm overly pessimistic, but most of Africa is a continent without much hope for its people... What [Africa] needs, the West cannot give. ...what Africans need is personal liberty...[and] guarantees of private property rights and rule of law.

Walter E. Williams

Law, Rights, People

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No matter how much of our liberty Washington takes away in the name of security, there are no guarantees that there won't be another terrorist attack. Instead of attacking American liberties, the government ought to go after terrorists in their countries of origin. It should be like what our military attempted during WWII. Don't wait to defend ships against the kamikaze -- bomb the fields where they take off.

Walter E. Williams

Country, Military, Government

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If the Constitution framers would come back today, they would have contempt for most of us.

Walter E. Williams

Today, Constitution, Framers

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I learned that you have to evaluate the effects of public policy as opposed to intentions.

Walter E. Williams

Intention, Policy, Effects

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Discrimination is simply the act of choice. Scarcity requires us to choose; scarcity is the cause of discrimination!

Walter E. Williams

Choices, Scarcity, Causes

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Thou shalt not steal unless thou hast a majority vote in Congress.... I'm healthy; subsidized prescription drugs won't do me much good. I'd be willing to forego my prescription drugs if Congress would force some young American to mow my lawn.

Walter E. Williams

Majority Vote, Drug, Healthy

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Conservatives and liberals are kindred spirits as far as government spending is concerned. First, let's make sure we understand what government spending is. Since government has no resources of its own, and since there's no Tooth Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person's property to give it to another to whom it does not belong - in effect, legalized theft.

Walter E. Williams

Government, Giving, Liberty

"All it takes is guts". Book by Walter E. Williams, 1987.

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Most Americans, who think Congress has a right to do anything for which they can get a majority vote, ignore the clearly written constitutional restraints on Congress.

Walter E. Williams

Thinking, Majority Vote, Congress

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Born: June 30, 1936
Occupation: Economist
Cite this Page: Citation

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