Elon Musk: Government Should Be the Referee—Not Outnumber the Players on the Field

Elon Musk: The government should stick to being a referee.

“The government's role is to ensure that the playing field is a good playing field. That there are good rules. The government is essentially the referee, making sure that there's fair play, that the rules are sensible, and allowing the players on the field to play the game.

And what happens over time is that the government keeps growing, and at a certain point, you have more referees than players on the field.

Then, the game is not good. I'm not saying you don't need referees, but you don't want the referees to outnumber the players. That would be silly, but that's often what happens.

So, just make sure that fair games are being played, that there are sensible rules, and don't get in the way of the players. And the results will be excellent.”

Cato Institute Conference, June 12 2024