Power Quotes

"Monopoly power corrupts both economics and politics."

"Written constitutions cannot constrain power without supporting interests."

"Agenda control matters more than preferences in determining outcomes."

"The foundation of power lies in the loyalty of those who follow."

"Power without conscience is tyranny in waiting."

"Power is the responsibility to serve."

"The gap between rich and poor is widening because we allow it"

"Power without accountability is tyranny with a spreadsheet"

"Accountability must flow in all directions, not just downward."

"Capital accumulation without redistribution threatens social stability."

"Capital seeks to minimize what it owes to society."

"The rich pay less because they can shape the rules."

"Capital concentrates power that markets cannot distribute justly."

"Capital's claim on production has no inherent justification."

"The natives taught me that power without respect is merely tyranny."

"Power in society often flows to those who can organize effectively around shared interests."

"Autocrats are constrained by their fear of being overthrown."

"Groups that successfully overcome collective action problems gain disproportionate power."

"The power of organized groups comes from their ability to control member behavior."

"The paradox of power is that it can be built through cooperation but easily lost through conflict."

"The distribution of power within institutions determines who benefits from economic activity."

"The most powerful institutions are those that seem inevitable and unchangeable."

"Institutions that concentrate power are stable precisely because they make opposition costly."

"Incremental institutional change is usually preferred by powerful actors to transformative change."

"We often mistake institutional longevity for institutional success, forgetting that some institutions persist precisely because they benefit the powerful."

"The power of institutions lies in their ability to make specific distributions of benefit and burden seem natural and inevitable."

"Institutions persist because they create constituencies that benefit from them and will defend them against change."

"Inherited wealth creates power imbalances that persist across generations."

"Wealth is ultimately social and political, not merely economic."

"Capital in the hands of few shapes politics, culture, and opportunity."