The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

The quip frames socialism as fiscally self-limiting: redistribution and public provision are portrayed as sustainable only while there remains sufficient taxable wealth generated by “other people.” Its rhetorical force lies in reducing a complex debate—about equity, public goods, and macroeconomic policy—to a simple constraint: resources must ultimately be produced before they can be redistributed. Admirers read it as a warning against policies that discourage investment and work or that rely on perpetual deficit finance; critics argue it caricatures socialist and social-democratic models, which may emphasize broad-based taxation, productivity growth, and collective investment rather than merely spending “other people’s money.”