Happy100th Birthday Milton Friedman!

Here are some of my favorite Milton Friedman quotes:

1. There is nothing as permanent as a temporary government program.

2. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.

3. Inflation is caused by too much money chasing after too few goods.

4. Sloppy writing reflects sloppy thinking.

5. All learning is ultimately self-learning.

6. I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal.

7. Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property.

8. The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.

9. The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.

10. The high rate of unemployment among teenagers, and especially black teenagers, is both a scandal and a serious source of social unrest. Yet it is largely a result of minimum wage laws. We regard the minimum wage law as one of the most, if not the most, antiblack laws on the statute books.

11. Industrial progress, mechanical improvement, all of the great wonders of the modern era have meant relatively little to the wealthy. The rich in Ancient Greece would have benefited hardly at all from modern plumbing : running servants replaced running water. Television and radio? The Patricians of Rome could enjoy the leading musicians and actors in their home, could have the leading actors as domestic retainers. Ready-to-wear clothing, supermarkets - all these and many other modern developments would have added little to their life. The great achievements of Western Capitalism have redounded primarily to the benefit of the ordinary person. These achievements have made available to the masses conveniences and amenities that were previously the exclusive prerogative of the rich and powerful.

12. President Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."... Neither half of that statement expresses a relation between the citizen and his government that is worthy of the ideals of free men in a free society. "What your country can do for you" implies that the government is the patron, the citizen the ward. "What you can do for your country" assumes that the government is the master, the citizen the servant.

13. On the difference between public vs. private education: "Try talking French with someone who studied it in public school. Then with a Berlitz graduate."

14. And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think, excuse me, if you'll pardon me, American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout?

15. Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.

16. Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.

17. I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.

18. Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation.

19. Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.

20. Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.

21. Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless.

22. One man's opportunism is another man's statesmanship.

Milton Friedman: The Aftershock Doctrine

In spite of the ravings of folks like Naomi Klein and her Shock Doctrine Theory, the impact of Milton Friedman's ideas are still being felt around the world today (though sadly, not nearly enough in the U.S.) Consider these examples:

• Hong Kong -- as Johan Norberg suggests in the clip above, Friedmanite policies still hold sway in the world's wealthiest city state.
• Estonia -- Estonian president Mart Laar read Free To Choose and considered it his handbook once he became Prime Minister. Laar says it was his first contact with Western economics. Estonia is the wealthiest, fastest growing post-communist country in Eastern Europe.
• Chile -- The Chicago Boys (economists) who studied under Friedman at Chicago helped usher Chile into an age of prosperity. Today is the most prosperous country in South America and the only South American country in the OECD.

Milton Friedman is still making impact. His aftershocks will be felt long into the 21st century.

Free or Equal: How Friedman Freed Man

Uncommon Knowledge: Milton Friedman

He may have been gone for [five] years now, but Milton Friedman, the Hoover Institution website display indicates, remains one of the most popular interview subjects ever to appear on Uncommon Knowledge.

Oh, if only–if only. I understood that Milton was a great man, but when I knew him at Hoover–his office was just two doors down the hall from mine–I failed to grasp just how singular he was. No one else is even a little bit like him. I should have insisted on sitting right down with Milton and getting his entire life story on tape.

Still, we have this.

~ Peter Robinson

Recorded on February 10, 1999

Via Powerline

Friedman on Poverty and Equality

"You can only aim for equality by giving some people the right to take things from others. And what ultimately happens when you aim for equality is that A and B decide what C should do for D. Except that they take a little bit of commission off on the way."

There are No Angels: The CNBC Commercial

Many of you may have already seen this commercial or the youtube video clip. The beauty of this classic exchange between Milton Friedman and Phil Donahue is how simply and how powerfully Friedman was able to articulate his views on capitalism and freedom.

There are few, if any, angels anywhere truly looking out for the interests of the common man or the poor. People have all sorts of motivations, but government has a way of distorting not only one's idealism, but transforming people into a creatures of compromise who trade away their souls just to keep the gravy train rolling.

When the controlling influence of government is minimized, and people are free to satisfy each other's wants and needs with honest exchange and philanthropy, the primary role of government is as a referee.

At the intersection of government and greed all we find is crony capitalism.

------------------------------------------------------------
The Complete Friedman/Donohue Interview

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 10-- How To Stay Free

Democracies have only recently been considered desirable. Historically, it was feared that democracies always self destruct when citizens, forgetting that you cannot remove want and misery through legislation, insist on government actions that physically and morally bankrupt their nation. Friedman explains why the United States has so far avoided this outcome and how we can continue to do so.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 9-- How to Cure Inflation

Inflation results when the amount of money printed or coined increases faster than the creation of new goods and services. Money is a "token" of the wealth of a nation. If more tokens are created than new wealth, it takes more tokens to buy the same goods. Friedman explains why politicians like inflation, and why wage and price controls are not solutions to the problem. Friedman visits Japan, U.S. and Britain.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 8-- Who Protects the Worker?

Unions sometimes protect some workers - their members - but usually at the expense of other workers. Government protects its employees and special groups of workers at the expense of other workers. Both unions and government restrict freedom. Friedman explains how the competition of employers for the talents of workers leads to the highest wages and best working conditions.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 7-- Who Protects the Consumer?

Various government agencies have been created on the claim that they will protect the consumer. These agencies restrict freedom, stifle beneficial innovation, and become agents for the industries or groups they are intended to regulate. Friedman explains how the apparent chaos of the market place, the competition of many suppliers for business, is the best protection of consumer interests.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 6-- What's Wrong with our Schools

Parental choice and parental responsibility in the education of children is the U.S. tradition and is consistent with a free society. Centralized government control has eroded freedom and adversely affected the quality of education. The poor help pay for education for the future rich. Friedman has long advocated using vouchers to solve the problem. He explains why.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 5-- Created Equal

The Declaration of Independence says, "all men are created equal." Friedman explains that this did not mean all persons should or will have equal talents or income. Equal opportunity to better one's self, and the right to personally benefit from the gains realized, are consistent with freedom. Equality of results requires force. Taking from some to give to others destroys freedom and removes the incentive for creating new wealth. Friedman visits India, U.S. and Britain.



"The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both." ~ Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 4-- From Cradle to Grave

The welfare state arises from the attempt to do good with other people's money. Such attempts always fail because: Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as his own. Welfare is supply driven. Those spending the money use force to collect it and to insure those receiving it use it for "right" purposes. Good intentions are corrupted by bad means. Friedman visits U.S. and Britain.



The dollar amounts of waste, fraud and abuse that Friedman cites with horror are merely chump change by today's standards.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 3-- Anatomy of Crisis

The Great Depression has been popularly viewed as a failure of capitalism. The stock market crash, the failure of the Bank of the United States, loss of personal savings, were visible symbols supporting this belief. As Friedman explains, the real cause was the unseen failure of government policy and action. Yet this crisis resulting from government failure leads to decades of government expansion.



Fascinating discussion on Keynes, Keynesian economics, and the legacy of Keynes.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 2-- The Tyranny of Control

Government planning and detailed control of economic activity lessens productive innovation, and consumer choice. Good, better, best, are replaced by "approved" or "authorized." Friedman shows how "established" industries or methods, seek government protection or subsidization in their attempts to stop or limit product improvements which they don't control. Friedman visits India, Japan and U.S.



Interestingly enough, Donald Rumsfeld is part of the ensuing discussion when he was a titan of industry and prior to his stint as Defense Secretary.

Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: Part 1-- The Power of the Market

America's freedom and prosperity derive from the combination of the idea of human liberty in America's Declaration of Independence with the idea of economic freedom in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Friedman explains how markets and voluntary exchange organize activity and enable people to improve their lives. He also explains the price system. Friedman visits Hong Kong, U.S. and Scotland.



The discussion in the second half of this video is as enlightening as the main program itself. It may be 25 - 30 years since this program was made, but the issues are still the same, and there are still many who believe that strict government regulation and controls are preferable to individual freedom.