It seems that during our local Rend Lake Water Festival Parade the organizers had a hard time defining what a business actually is. So instead of looking around the area to find one that provides a service or manufactures a good, I could name many, they instead give the “Business of the Year” award to the members of the unproductive class.  Yes, that does say US Army Corp of Engineers, just ask the citizens of New Orleans how “successful” they are.

Writes Wladimir Kraus:

Government is a consumer, albeit a consumer of a special kind. Hence, all of its activities and programs, whether to finance various welfare projects, public education, or construction of roads, dams, and infrastructure are consumptive by their very nature. Like any other consumer, the government must turn to the production process — that is, to producers — for its funds. But unlike ordinary consumers, who obtain their incomes through voluntary exchange, the government obtains its income by means of forcible taxation.

Read more: Government Produces Nothing, Ever – Wladimir Kraus – Mises Institute http://mises.org/daily/2597#ixzz0ncX2lMsX