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"The nominal budget is a poor indicator of the impact of government outlays and revenues."
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"Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principle."

"Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. People have the right to expect that these wants will be provided for by this wisdom."

"I don't mind what Congress does, as long as they don't do it in the streets and frighten the horses."

"I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government."

"I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world."

"The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments."

"Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure."

"It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for."

"We are a forward-looking people, and we must have a forward-looking government."

"The government must pursue a course of complete neutrality toward religion."
Explore more quotes by William Vickrey

"Practically, the desirable situation ought to be one in which any reasonably responsible person willing to accept available employment can find a job paying a living wage within 48 hours."

"If unemployment could be brought down to say 2 percent at the cost of an assured steady rate of inflation of 10 percent per year, or even 20 percent, this would be a good bargain."

"Deficits do not in themselves produce inflation, nor does a balanced budget assure a stable price level."

"The insane pursuit of the holy grail of a balanced budget in the end is going to drive the economy into a depression."

"Firms would be given initial entitlements to gross markup on the basis of past performance. These entitlements would be transferable and a market in them would be developed."

"Nearly all educational expenditure should be considered a capital outlay, whether it provides a future return in the form of enhanced taxable income or in terms of an enhanced quality of life."

"The great increase in longevity has produced a surge in the desire to accumulate assets for retirement. It has outpaced the ability of the private sector to produce assets, so we need a larger government debt."

"Increasingly prices are set by sellers to raise their prices without a loss of sales sufficient to wipe out the gain."
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