[Supporting a limited government role] doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain things which need to be done, but the question is whether it’s the role of the government to do them. For example, my neighbor’s child may be desperately in need of sex education, but it’s not my job to go provide it. The sex education should come from that child’s parents or possibly from the schools, but it’s not my job to provide sex education for my neighbor’s child.

Author, Commentator and President of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza

Free mark capitalism is not so much an ideology as it is simply a doctrine of limitation. It’s a doctrine of letting human creativity go, letting people devise and make and exchange stuff freely, the fundamental premise of which is called the morality of content (or contentment).

Author, Commentator and President of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza

[Under free market capitalism, if] I offer you a job and you freely take it, we’re both better off. I wouldn’t have offered the job and you wouldn’t have taken it if both of us weren’t better off by that transaction. So the corporation, for example, which refuses to hire someone, or the customer who refuses to buy something isn’t doing anyone an injustice. If I refuse to hire you, you’re no worse off than you were before and if you go into a store and you don’t want to buy some things, the store isn’t any worse off than it was before.

Author, Commentator and President of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza

[The wealthy]provide capital for new investments, new inventions and new products ... the first computers cost a lot of money, likewise the first cell phones. The wealthy at the time bought the computers for $7,000 and the cell phones for $2,500, which subsidized the research that then allowed Apple and other companies to now sell the cell phone for $49.95. So the prices of things come down ... because the rich are the initial purchasers, and that money then goes towards making this new technology more widely available and cheaper.

Author, Commentator and President of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza

[A] function of the wealthy in an economy is that they are the people who hire the rest of us, so that most people who have a job are being employed by a wealthy guy or a wealthy group of guys under the name of a corporation.

Author, Commentator and President of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza

if ... $54 billion were to be taken away [from Bill Gates], who would be better to spend it? 535 guys in congress who didn’t do anything to earn that money, or Bill Gates himself? Who is more likely to be careful in spending the money and making sure that if it’s going to used philanthropically that it does a lot of good?

Author, Commentator and President of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza

the government wants to guide the economy, often choosing which technologies and industries deserve favored status (tax breaks or subsidies), which is an inherently corrupt process and counter-productive to economic growth. It's impossible to imagine that a cadre of politicians or bureaucrats are best suited to decide which businesses and industries deserve resources.

Independent Women's Forum director and Goldwater Institute senior fellow, Carrie Lukas

For most of civilization, man had to attempt to secure food for himself and his family, build a shelter, and create clothes. How have we moved so far beyond that now? It's because some bright people figured out better ways to produce things so that we could all start specializing in the duties for which we are best suited.

Independent Women's Forum director and Goldwater Institute senior fellow, Carrie Lukas

When the rich have less money to spend and invest, that means fewer customers and less capital for businesses, and fewer jobs for the rest of us.

Independent Women's Forum director and Goldwater Institute senior fellow, Carrie Lukas

if the time and effort required by a person or group of people to produce or sell a product or service isn’t worth the amount of money that they make by doing so, they simply won’t.

President of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, Star Parker

The wealthy don’t simply horde their money, or bury it in the ground, they invest it in such a way that all of society benefits, by producing products and services that people want which then creates jobs which people need.

President of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, Star Parker

confiscating a person’s wealth is a violation of his or her right to be responsible for their own money. For he who has much, much is required.

President of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, Star Parker

The founders of the United States held a skeptical view of government understanding that greater government involvement always comes at the expense of freedom which in turn restrains progress and lowers standards of living.

Economist, investment advisor, author and commentator, Peter Schiff

A little government can do a lot of good but a lot of government can do a lot of harm

Economist, investment advisor, author and commentator, Peter Schiff

although it seems counter-intuitive, higher education in the United States is so expensive precisely because government subsidizes it. At its current cost, many people wouldn't be able to afford to attend universities, but because the government guarantees their student loans, universities can charge virtually any price they desire.

Economist, investment advisor, author and commentator, Peter Schiff

when a government intervenes in an economy, despite its best intentions, the regulations and taxes which it imposes impedes the ability and willingness of these people to start businesses and employ workers.

Economist, investment advisor, author and commentator, Peter Schiff

An economy suffers when money is taken from a rich person and sent to the government because this is the very money that the rich would have otherwise used to fund the growth of their own or other people's businesses which in turn creates jobs for a population.

Economist, investment advisor, author and commentator, Peter Schiff

All of the available evidence shows ... that private individuals and businesses are far more effective at creating businesses and jobs with their own money than government is.

Economist, investment advisor, author and commentator, Peter Schiff

What causes an economy to prosper is giving freedom to the people who are able to produce new products and services that other people want. It's really as simple as that. If you allow the productive people to be productive and you don't penalize them for being productive through excessive taxation and excessive regulation, an economy will prosper.

Syndicated columnist and author, Ben Shapiro

When the government does become involved [in an economy], it's almost invariably detrimental. For example, people like to say that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is evidence that when the government becomes involved, things become better, but the fact is that all it does is create more hazard by encouraging people not to conduct their research before investing in things like stock.

Syndicated columnist and author, Ben Shapiro

The wealthy in this country are by and large the job creators. Tax them, and they will cut jobs because it impedes their ability to create.

Syndicated columnist and author, Ben Shapiro

The problem with government is that anything it does necessarily comes at a cost. There's no such thing as a free lunch. The government can do nothing positive without also simultaneously doing something negative. Let's say that a factory was given a $500,000 grant which saved 500 jobs, that's what's seen, but what isn't so readily seen is what could have been created or what was lost in the private sector because the federal government borrowed or taxed that money out of the economy to create those jobs.

Writer and Cato Institute Budget Analyst, Tad DeHaven

These days, the US government does much more infringing upon our rights than protecting them. Chiefly among them is property rights. If a citizen is secure in their ability to freely conduct trade, or commerce, it decreases the risk of and increases the willingness to, put up one's own money or to borrow or to invest. Private investment suffers when there's a concern about what Washington is going to do with regard to legislation, from health care mandates to increasing taxes which, to me are all infringements upon the ability of investors, entrepreneurs and individuals to conduct commerce.

Writer and Cato Institute Budget Analyst, Tad DeHaven

Why should government be limited in scope and function? Well, the Constitution says so. The list of legitimate, Constitutional powers the federal government has are spelled out. There is a list of things they definitely cannot do the Bill of Rights. The ninth and tenth amendments reiterate that if they are not listed in the Constitution they are denied to the federal government and reserved to the states or the people.

President of Americans For Tax Reform, Grover Norquist

Low taxes increase the return to work, savings and investment. If the top rate is 90% (as it was during World War II) and you work on Saturday to earn $100 then you keep ten dollars and the state gets 90 dollars. When Reagan brought the top rate to 28%, the same amount of work yields 72 dollars for you and 28 for the government. The return to work increased by seven times.

President of Americans For Tax Reform, Grover Norquist

People invest in things they own: land, houses, cars, clothing. No one washes a rented car.

President of Americans For Tax Reform, Grover Norquist

Free Trade is another word for free markets and low taxes across the globe. Tariffs are just taxes at the border and they are paid by Americans who must pay extra to buy a shirt from Brazil.

President of Americans For Tax Reform, Grover Norquist

[What causes an economy to prosper] is a highly contested issue ... contemporary libertarian economists, exemplified by Milton Friedman and his followers, believe that social well-being is maximized by minimizing government involvement in the economy ... At the other extreme, socialists believe in a strong role for government and government ownership of the means of production and distribution ... The reality is that the last century has seen the mixed economy prosper with government involvement through legislation and regulation pervading the economy.

Professor & Head of QUT's School of Economics and Finance, Tim Robinson

As it is with nations, so it is with families. Thus well organized families comprising well educated individuals with a strong savings ethic and a creative streak will, on average, prosper to a greater degree than unimaginative, disorganized families with low educational levels and a spendthrift nature.

Professor & Head of QUT's School of Economics and Finance, Tim Robinson

As a rule, market competition more efficiently rewards virtue, punishes irresponsibility, and more fairly distributes resources and opportunities than government. Markets favor the most accountable, innovative, and best companies, while government policies usually only favor the most politically well-connected companies.

Communications Director, Club For Growth, Mike Connolly

Ideally, everyone should have the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail based on his own merit, work ethic, and pluck. Government’s job should be to guarantee equal rights and equality of opportunity, and leave the outcomes up to individuals, their families, neighbors, businesses, and customers.

Communications Director, Club For Growth, Mike Connolly

Economies grow when they are free to grow. When people are free to keep more of what they produce, they will produce more.

Communications Director, Club For Growth, Mike Connolly

Economies controlled by informed consumers and competitive entrepreneurs – and not by politicians and bureaucrats – meet the needs of a society far better than political manipulation of economics. Market-oriented economies create jobs, opportunities, and wealth – undue government intervention in the economy squelches all three.

Communications Director, Club For Growth, Mike Connolly

I would like to see the government play less of a role [in the economy] because when the government gets involved, it creates failures and discourages rather than encourages people to be entrepreneurs because of burdensome regulation and taxation. I think the government tries to be all things to all people and subsequently takes away individual rights under the auspice of uniform rights. The challenge, as individuals, is that we find ourselves working hard for those who choose not to work and yet enjoy the same benefits ... One of the challenges we have today is that we're creating a system where people become more dependent upon the government versus relying upon themselves.

Entrepreneur and Chairman of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, Timothy Johnson

It's not about what the government can do for me, but what I can do for myself and I ask that the government restrict itself to its constitutional responsibilities and allow me to go out and look for those opportunities. I want everybody to eat, I just don't want the responsibility of catching it for them. I would rather teach them them how to fish, so they can catch carp, they can catch bass, they can catch catfish or whatever they want to catch. I think we have a host of people who want you to catch it for them, clean it for them, cook it for them, and even feed it to them then wipe their face when they're done eating.

Entrepreneur and Chairman of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, Timothy Johnson

I think the primary role [which the government should play in an economy] is to enforce property rights and contracts. In order to have a meaningful market and property, you have to have clear, enforceable property rights and contracts are necessary to have any kind of market ... In addition, the government should be responsible for ... [for providing] an effective, honest, strict, forward police force, law enforcement and defense establishment. [Ultimately] I think you have to limit the power of government because the incentives of the people within the government are very likely to try to expand their role.

Cato Institute Chairman Emeritus and Senior Economist, William Niskanen

[An economy will prosper if] each individual has the opportunity to exploit his or her own comparative advantage which means that they have the opportunity to do what they do best relative to other people.

Cato Institute Chairman Emeritus and Senior Economist, William Niskanen

by fostering a friendly business environment, where one business does not get preferential treatment over another, commercial activity enriches the many instead of the politically-connected few.

Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union, Pete Sepp

History shows that societies where the state has first claim on the people’s resources do not produce the same level of income growth and general well-being as societies that allow individuals, working together, to innovate and increase their wealth to everyone’s benefit.*[

Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union, Pete Sepp

Limits on the amount that government may consume from the private sector are also vitally important [to the prosperity of an economy] over the long run. For example, one of the world’s most stable and prosperous societies, Switzerland, has strong constitutional limits on government taxing, spending, and borrowing.

Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union, Pete Sepp

“High taxes on the wealthy” is a political public relations talking point. In reality taxes that are raised on the “so-called rich” hurt a wide range of small business owners, and stifle job creation.

Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union, Pete Sepp

The government’s role in an economy should be to create an environment in which people feel as though they will be rewarded for, and reap the benefits of, their innovation, by doing things like protecting property rights, enforcing contract rights and ensuring that taxes aren’t prohibitively high.

Contributing editor of City Journal and Manhattan Institute senior fellow, Steven Malanga

From government’s point of view, a democratic system with a fair and just set of laws and a reliable courts system encourages ... [an economy to prosper] because people can feel confident that they can keep the fruits of their labors.

Contributing editor of City Journal and Manhattan Institute senior fellow, Steven Malanga

At some point, if taxes become too high, they become a disincentive for people to do additional work, because the additional value that is earned from that work is diminished.

Contributing editor of City Journal and Manhattan Institute senior fellow, Steven Malanga