George Stigler Quote

A proposed principle of legitimacy states that every action set by a legislature represents a social judgment that society is better off for that action. Thus all governmental policies are by hypothesis utility-increasing for the nation. Any costs of (say) a redistribution of income are less than the benefits. National output as presently measured can and usually will fall when a new redistribution of income is instituted, because it is costly to redistribute income. Is this trend in governmental policy likely to be reversed, perhaps by a general movement toward deregulation?

"The Effect of Government on Economic Efficiency." 1988