Is That Government Best Which Regulates Least?

In a recent post, I questioned Henry David Thoreau’s aphorism, “That government is best which governs least.” The data, it seems, show something different. Countries with small governments, as measured by the share of expenditures and taxes in GDP, tend actually to be somewhat less free and prosperous than those with larger governments. The quality of government, as measured by things like rule of law, independent judges, and integrity of government officials turns out to matter much more than the size of government. I concluded that Thoreau’s aphorism should be revised to read, “That government is best which governs well.”

In response, several readers questioned whether the size of government, as measured by spending, was the right measure of “governs least.” Excessive regulation, they pointed out, may do more damage than spending and taxes. Maybe what we should say is, “That government is best which regulates least.”

Niskanen Center’s Will Wilkinson puts it this way:

Whether a country’s market economy is free — open, competitive, and relatively unmolested by government — is more a question of regulation than a question of taxation and redistribution. . .

If we want to encourage freedom and prosperity, we should pay more attention to easing the grip of the regulatory state.