Talk:Big government

message: What about the fact that "Big" and "Small" are relative terms - what you call small government, I call big government. Any government at all could always be smaller.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Matthew238 (talk • contribs) 01:26, 21 November 2006
Yes, what's considered big depends on one's perspective.  Arguing against big government is tantamount to arguing that the government is too big.  To call a four bedroom house a big house is to say that it's too big, though to someone with six bedrooms it might not seem big.  They're perhaps not the most articulate words, but they portray meaning nonetheless.--Zachbe (talk) 13:46, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Relativity of Term

message: This article is unreferenced, and seems to support a particular point of view.  Anyone have any references or ways to fix this?  /Blaxthos 22:24, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: But didn't Reagan also expand Big Government? He engaged in military Keynesianism. 204.52.215.13 (talk) 00:05, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: POV

message: Removed "Supporters of Big government argue that Big governments can get things done, particularly in the field of large public works projects.  One example is Nazi Germany's Holocaust."
Or, I don't know, going to the moon?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.195.104.123 (talk) 18:40, 28 September 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The point of the objection is that it's a highly misleading and biased example. It's like saying "Spiders are dangerous. One example is a black widow." —MiguelMunoz (talk) 22:27, 9 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Are you serious?

message: I think this should be added: from David Korten's "When Corporations Rule the World": "As Paul Hawken notes, it is the unwillingness of big business to accept the essential role of governmental regulation that creates the need for big government.  Similarly, it is the interference of big business in governance that renders government ineffective...  The bigger our corporations, the greater their power to externalize costs and the greater the need for big government to protect the public interest and to clean up the consequent social and environmental issues." Stars4change (talk) 05:39, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Big Business creates Big Gov

message: (This is my first time editing on wiki, so help if I am doing something wrong) 
The article seems to need some structure. Because the term is by it's nature biased, the only way is to explain both points of view. I think we will need to start making a list of arguments made for and against. Defining it as used by proponents without discussing the controversy is not complete. I suggest breaking it up into subjects (these are in question form): 
What is Big Government?
- What is the history of the term. Has it changed?
- Who uses the term? What does it mean to them? (Usage examples from both sides)
- Why is there controversy surrounding the term? What are the differing opinions?
 - First Used
 - Changes in use, if any
 - Definition by proponents, usage, examples
 - Definition by opponents, usage, examples
 - Controversy
BrainYYZ (talk) 12:04, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Organization 

message: Dr. Winer has reviewed this Wikipedia page, and provided us with the following comments to improve its quality:
We hope Wikipedians on this talk page can take advantage of these comments and improve the quality of the article accordingly.
Dr. Winer has published scholarly research which seems to be relevant to this Wikipedia article:
*Reference : J Stephen Ferris & Soo-Bin Park & Stanley L. Winer, 2006. "Political Competition and Convergence to Fundamentals: With Application to the Political Business Cycle and the Size of Government," CESifo Working Paper Series 1646, CESifo Group Munich.
ExpertIdeasBot (talk) 15:45, 24 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dr. Winer's comment on this article 

message: When was the term "big government" actually coined? I only started hearing it in the last two decades. It sounds like something coined by Ayn Rand or one of her followers, but that's just a guess. A brief mention of how the term was coined (and who coined it) would be a helpful addition. —MiguelMunoz (talk) 10:46, 29 September 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origin of the Term