One type of quotation which typically circulates quite widely is one that manages to aptly sum up a common political viewpoint with a single simple sentence. An example of such is one statement, attributed to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, holding that “The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

This quotation is congruent with an oft-expressed opinion which casts socialism as a form of government that continuously expropriates private capital until all the industry in the country has been nationalized (or until the country’s economy has been run into the ground, whichever comes first).

Although the quote has been simplified a bit, it does essentially reflect a statement made by Margaret Thatcher during an interview with journalist Llew Gardner for Thames Television’s This Week program on 5 February 1976 (a year after Mrs. Thatcher won the leadership of the opposition Conservative Party, and three years before she became prime minister). In response to a series of questions by Mr. Gardner about the timing of Conservative plans to bring down the majority Labour Party in Parliament, Mrs. Thatcher said: