"The wealth of nations is the work of the people, not of their governments."

"The wealth of nations is the work of the people, not of their governments. If they had no other maker of their wealth than their governments, all nations would be in misery. "Government represents an expense, a consumption of national wealth" 

~ Juan Bautista Alberdi in his seminal 1854 book, Sistema económico y rentístico de la Confederación Argentina según su Constitución de 1853 ('Economic and Revenue System of the Argentine Confederation According to its Constitution of 1853'), drafted while living in exile in Valparaíso, Chile [hat tip Libertario]