Jerry Jordan speaks on the premise that it is not the policies, but the choice of government institutions, that dictate the level of wealth and development a nation achieves. The gaps that separate prosperous from failing economies are defined by whether institutions facilitate or withhold resources, acting as either conversionary or diversionary agents for these assets. The link between government economic growth policies and prosperity is absent. Programs that are meant to improve education, for example, will fail if the existing economic infrastructure interferes with individuals’ eagerness to invest in human capital.

Central state intervention requires taking from the productive capacity of the system, in order to engage in it. The government then acts as either a promoter of market efficiency, or as a harbinger of market failure. Job creation policies, for instance, are meant to compensate the market's supposed failure in producing enough job opportunities. Their end result is often the unnecessary preservation of inefficient production mechanisms, and hindered productivity.

It is important to note that infrastructure is the key determinant to economic prosperity and success. Economies tend to thrive in states that foster natural economic productivity. The ideal role of government, Jordan asserts, is that of a nurturer of the economic garden, that allows natural growth to take place, and suffocates external threats to it, without interfering with its spontaneous course and evolution.