“If you want more of something, you subsidize it. If you want less of something, you tax it” (or “If you want less success, tax it. If you want more poverty, fund it”) is a popular saying that has been attributed to several people.
 
“The more you tax something, the less you get of it; the more you subsidize something, the more you get of it” was printed in The Wall Street Journal om November 11, 1976. “GENERALLY SPEAKING, if you tax something you get less of it; if you subsidize something you get more of it” was written by Jack Kemp in the Buffalo (NY) Evening News on August 27, 1977. “The late United States Senator and statesman emeritus, Leaverett Saltonstall, was a man of few words. (...) Another time, he wagged his finer at me and said, ‘If you want less some something, tax it. If you want more, subsidize it’” was printed in the Daily Evening Item (Lynn, MA) on January 14, 1980. “He (John Hosemann of the American Farm Bureau Federation—ed.) cited noted economist Milton Friedman: ‘If you want more of something, you subsidize it; if you want less of something, you tax it’” was printed in the Chillicothe (OH) Gazette on September 15, 1983.
     
“When you tax something, you get less of it, and when you subsidize something, you get more of it” was said by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on June 17, 1988. Reagan often gets credit for the saying, but it had been frequently used by 1988.
   
“If you want less success, tax it. If you want more poverty, fund it” (shown on an image) was posted on X/Twitter by Rothmus 🏴 on February 26, 2024.
     
 
Newspapers.com
12 November 1976, Greenville (OH) Daily Advocate, “The Begging Bowl” (Wall Street Journal), pg. 12, col. 2:
The more you tax something, the less you get of it; the more you subsidize something, the more you get of it. Which is what happens when you ta efficiency and subsidize blight.
(Originally published in The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 1976, page 20, column 2.—ed.)
 
Newspapers.com
27 August 1977, Buffalo (NY) Evening News, “Facing Fiscal Facts: N.Y. Must Reduce Its Taxes” by Jack Kemp, pg. C-3, col. 1:
GENERALLY SPEAKING, if you tax something you get less of it; if you subsidize something you get more of it. In New York State we tax work, growth, investment, employment, savings and productivity, while subsidizing non-work, consumption, welfare, and debt.
       
Google Books
Status of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means (April 16, 1980)
Washington, DC: U.S. Printing Office
1980
Pg. 96:
Mr. SCHULER. (...) Do any of you gentlemen believe that there is a scintilla of truth in the statement that if you want more of something, you subsidize it and if you want less of something you tax it? Is there any validity in that at all?
 
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26 August 1980, Sacramento (CA) Bee, “Oilman: Federal Policies Cause Energy Problems” by Marguaret Peterson, pg. C7, col. 6:
He (C. John Miller of the Independent Petroleum Association of America—ed.) quoted a saying about government policies: “If you want more of something, you subsidize it, and if you want less, you tax it.”
 
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24 January 1981, The News-Messenger (Fremont, OH), “Economic evangelists find key follower” by Jack Anderson, pg. A-4, cols. 2-3:
What exactly was the supply-side theory that (Jack—ed.) Kemp was advancing? he offers this folksy explanation: “People work for themselves, not to pay taxes. When you want more of something, you subsidize it. When you want less of it, you tax it. But under our crazy economic system, we have been taxing investments and savings while subsidizing non-work and welfare.”
 
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18 July 1983, Breeze-Courier (Taylorville, IL), “Hang Tough On Tax Cuts” by Sen. Bob Kasten (R-WI), pg. 4, col. 4:
In our economic system, if you want more of something, you provide incentives. If you want less of something, you tax it.
   
Newspapers.com
15 September 1983, Chillicothe (OH) Gazette, “Economic growth key” by Tom Spring, pg. 12, col. 1:
He (John Hosemann of the American Farm Bureau Federation—ed.) cited noted economist Milton Friedman: “If you want more of something, you subsidize it; if you want less of something, you tax it.”
 
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12 September 1985, The Daily News (Springfield, MO), “Wise words are 2,000 years old” by Mel Hancock, pg. 6A, col. 5:
An axiom of government is, “if you want ‘less’ of something, tax it. if you want ‘more’ of something, subsidize it.”
     
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
Remarks on Free and Fair Trade to Members of the United States Information Agency Volunteer International Council
June 17, 1988
(...)
Now, I don’t want to say a great deal about this matter of the world agricultural trade crisis. You’ll be hearing a great deal about it as the negotiations progress this year. But there’s a simple rule that’s as true in agriculture as in any other endeavor: When you tax something, you get less of it, and when you subsidize something, you get more of it. It so happens that this year the world’s industrialized nations are subsidizing agriculture to the tune of $200 billion a year.
 
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14 February 1994, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, “At ta time, ‘I do” means ‘I pay more’” by Helen Huntley, pg. E12, col. 1:
“There’s an old economist’s maxim that if you want more of something you subsidize it, and if you want less of something you tax it.”
(David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values.—ed.)
 
X/Twitter 
Ashley Hodge
@Ashleyhodge
“If you want more of something; subsidize it.  If you want less of it; tax it.” Ronald Reagan
11:50 PM · May 13, 2009
 
X/Twitter
Kevin
@tech1959
@Emperor_Bob
Economics 101 says if you want less of something tax it. If you want more of it don’t tax it.
5:28 AM · Jul 16, 2010
 
X/Twitter
Old before my time
@wokeupold2day
If the government stops subsidizing Covid, surprisingly we will have less of it. I never thought I’d quote Reagan, but “If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less of something, tax it.”
10:17 PM · Jul 28, 2021
 
X/Twitter
Rothmus 🏴
@Rothmus
(The following text is shown on an image.—ed.)
If you want less
success, tax it.
If you want more
poverty, fund it.
4:14 PM · Feb 26, 2024