The belief in small government does not conflict with the readiness of business leaders to profit from the effects of government. The way to understand this apparent contradiction is that “small government” does not have a simple meaning. It means partly a government that does not try to help the low-wage sector of the economy. The New Deal should be repealed; extensions in the postwar years should be eliminated as well. Unions should be broken. But transfers through the tax system from the low-wage sector to the FTE sector are fine.
