Many of the products which create a modern standard of living are only the physical incorporations of ideas- not only read more

Many of the products which create a modern standard of living are only the physical incorporations of ideas- not only the ideas of an Edison or a Ford but the ideas of innumerable anonymous people who figure out the design of supermarkets, the location of gasoline stations, and the million mundane things on which our material well-being depends. Societies which have more people carrying out physical acts and fewer people supplying ideas do not have higher standards of living. Quite the contrary.

The truth is that economic competition is the very opposite of competition in the animal kingdom. It is not a read more

The truth is that economic competition is the very opposite of competition in the animal kingdom. It is not a competition in the grabbing off of scarce nature-given supplies, as it is in the animal kingdom. Rather, it is a competition in the positive creation of new and additional wealth.

Based on first-hand evidence of your own senses - the improved health and later ages at which acquaintances die nowadays read more

Based on first-hand evidence of your own senses - the improved health and later ages at which acquaintances die nowadays as compared with the past; the material goods that we now possess; the speed at which information, entertainment, and we ourselves move freely throughout the world - it seems to me that a person must be literally deaf and blind not to perceive that humanity is in a much better state than ever before.

The essence of wealth is the capacity to control the forces of nature, and the extent of wealth depends upon read more

The essence of wealth is the capacity to control the forces of nature, and the extent of wealth depends upon the level of technology and the ability to create new knowledge.

American prosperity and American free enterprise are both highly unusual in the world, and we should not overlook the possibility read more

American prosperity and American free enterprise are both highly unusual in the world, and we should not overlook the possibility that the two are connected.

Corporations cannot commit treason, or be outlawed or excommunicated, for they have no souls.

Corporations cannot commit treason, or be outlawed or excommunicated, for they have no souls.

A man who has a million dollars is as well off as if her were rich.

A man who has a million dollars is as well off as if her were rich.

Every era has a currency that buys souls. In some the currency is pride, in others it is hope, in read more

Every era has a currency that buys souls. In some the currency is pride, in others it is hope, in still others it is a holy cause. There are of course times when hard cash will buy souls, and the remarkable thing is that such times are marked by civility, tolerance, and the smooth working of everyday life.

Money isn't everything… but it ranks right up there with oxygen.

Money isn't everything… but it ranks right up there with oxygen.