Steven Forbes sat down with Prager University to answer the crucial and often misunderstood question: “Can the government run the economy?”

Forbes says: “One constantly hears phrases such as the economy ‘is overheating’ or ‘needs to cool off’ or ‘could use some stimulus.’ These aren’t harmless metaphors. They epitomize how economists have taught us to see an economy — as something that can be manipulated, guided or driven. And guess who does the driving? The government. The government is supposed to make sure that the economy ‘hums’ along at an even speed, going neither too fast nor too slow. But the economy is not a machine. It is made up of people, and no one can control what billions of them are going to do.”

The bottom line? “Here’s a rule: the more a government tightens its grip, the less an economy grows. That’s because an economy is not a machine and the government can’t force it to act like one.”