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Format:Paperback
The link between economic and political freedoms has been supported for a long time, and Milton Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom" is one of the more important texts in that intellectual tradition. The central thesis of this book is that the private ownership and enterprise, rather than the government controlled services, is the true guarantor of personal freedoms. Friedman acknowledges that there are indeed certain activities that a government has a legitimate role in (like the arbitration and the enforcement of the laws), but those tend to be exceptional and require a special set of circumstances in order to be justified. In the second chapter he gives a non-exhaustive list of fourteen activities that the government has asserted an exclusive role in for which there is no good justification. It is interesting to note that as we approach the fourteenth anniversary of the publication of this book, only a couple of those are still not in effect (there is no universal draft during a peacetime and the Post Office does not have an exclusive right to distribute mail any more).
The chapter on monetary policy is very interesting. Friedman considers monetary policy to be one of those activities over which a government can exercise a legitimate monopoly. This has however been disputed in recent years by more libertarian thinkers - even when it comes to printing and distributing money, there is no good a-priory reason why a private entity wouldn't be able to accomplish this as well. In fact, I would probably have more trust in money issued by some well established corporations or banks than that issued by 90%+ of governments around the world. In this chapter Friedman also goes at length expounding on pros and cons of the gold standard, which nowadays is not all that in vogue at all.
The chapter on discrimination is also one of the more interesting ones. Friedman outlines what would now be considered a consistently libertarian position: although he personally finds all sorts of discrimination based on race, gender, or religion particularly abhorrent, he doesn't think that it is the role of government to impose any sorts of measures that would amount to enforced "inclusiveness." He has a problem with the very notion of "discrimination." In many instances one man's discrimination is another man's right to exercise a taste preference. Whatever it is, Friedman thinks that the best and most effective way of dealing with discrimination is again through allowing the existence of free market. In a perfectly free market discrimination against individuals or groups will have immediate and very deleterious consequences for any purveyor of goods or services. Here again the case is made that capitalism is the best guarantor of personal freedom. This is not just an abstract argument - time and again the experience has shown that whenever a group was allowed to freely compete in the marketplace, the discrimination and the prejudice against that group has diminished.
Another topic that gets into Friedman's crosshairs is that of overregulation of all sorts of trades and professions. The supposed aim of most of these regulations, licensing and certifications is the protection of the public. However, it is a plain empirical fact that almost all of those regulations are imposed on the request of the regulated industries, rather after an outcry from the public. What these regulations in fact do is create barriers to entry and shielding of the industry insiders form the competition. Friedman argues that this is yet another form of limitation of freedom that is imposed through the prevention of the existence of a free market. He argues that this is seldom justified, and that market would create a much more efficient way of weeding out the incompetent products and services, even in the case of medical industry. One can't help think that of the present debates over the medical insurance in the US, and wonder how much of it could be solved by simple deregulation of the whole industry.
As it may be clear from the examples above, Milton Friedman is a very insightful thinker with ideas that were many decades ahead of his time. His works deserve to be continuously read by all who wish to implement a fully functioning free market economy. That is the surest guarantee of the personal freedom that we can ever hope to implement.
The chapter on monetary policy is very interesting. Friedman considers monetary policy to be one of those activities over which a government can exercise a legitimate monopoly. This has however been disputed in recent years by more libertarian thinkers - even when it comes to printing and distributing money, there is no good a-priory reason why a private entity wouldn't be able to accomplish this as well. In fact, I would probably have more trust in money issued by some well established corporations or banks than that issued by 90%+ of governments around the world. In this chapter Friedman also goes at length expounding on pros and cons of the gold standard, which nowadays is not all that in vogue at all.
The chapter on discrimination is also one of the more interesting ones. Friedman outlines what would now be considered a consistently libertarian position: although he personally finds all sorts of discrimination based on race, gender, or religion particularly abhorrent, he doesn't think that it is the role of government to impose any sorts of measures that would amount to enforced "inclusiveness." He has a problem with the very notion of "discrimination." In many instances one man's discrimination is another man's right to exercise a taste preference. Whatever it is, Friedman thinks that the best and most effective way of dealing with discrimination is again through allowing the existence of free market. In a perfectly free market discrimination against individuals or groups will have immediate and very deleterious consequences for any purveyor of goods or services. Here again the case is made that capitalism is the best guarantor of personal freedom. This is not just an abstract argument - time and again the experience has shown that whenever a group was allowed to freely compete in the marketplace, the discrimination and the prejudice against that group has diminished.
Another topic that gets into Friedman's crosshairs is that of overregulation of all sorts of trades and professions. The supposed aim of most of these regulations, licensing and certifications is the protection of the public. However, it is a plain empirical fact that almost all of those regulations are imposed on the request of the regulated industries, rather after an outcry from the public. What these regulations in fact do is create barriers to entry and shielding of the industry insiders form the competition. Friedman argues that this is yet another form of limitation of freedom that is imposed through the prevention of the existence of a free market. He argues that this is seldom justified, and that market would create a much more efficient way of weeding out the incompetent products and services, even in the case of medical industry. One can't help think that of the present debates over the medical insurance in the US, and wonder how much of it could be solved by simple deregulation of the whole industry.
As it may be clear from the examples above, Milton Friedman is a very insightful thinker with ideas that were many decades ahead of his time. His works deserve to be continuously read by all who wish to implement a fully functioning free market economy. That is the surest guarantee of the personal freedom that we can ever hope to implement.
Format:Paperback
Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was an American economist who taught at the University of Chicago (and was the leader of the "Chicago school"); he received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, and wrote/cowrote books such as A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History, Free to Choose, Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's Protest, Tyranny of the Status Quo, etc. He wrote in the Preface that this 1962 book was "a long-delayed product of a series of lectures that I gave in June, 1956."
He said that the basic roles of government in a free society are to serve as "rule-maker and umpire"; he adds, "The need for government in these respects arises because absolute freedom is impossible. However attractive anarchy may be as a philosophy, it is not feasible in a world of imperfect men." (Pg. 25) For example, he admits that monopolies, while "more limited than is supposed... unquestionably do arise." (Pg. 28)
He argues that an "automatic" commodity standard (e.g., under a gold-backed system) "has historically never proved feasible. It has always tended to develop in the direction of a mixed system..." (Pg. 41)
He strongly supports the notion of school vouchers, noting that a poor black inner-city family with a gifted child "is in a very difficult situation. The 'good' public schools are in the high income neighborhoods. The family might be willing to spend something in addition to what it pays in taxes to get better schooling for its child. But it can hardly afford simultaneously to move to the expensive neighborhood." (Pg. 92)
More controversially, he asks, "Is there any difference in principle between the taste that leads a householder to prefer an attractive servant to an ugly one and the taste that leads another to prefer an (Africen-American) to a white... except that we sympathize with the one taste and may not with the other?" He adds, "In a society based on free discussion, the appropriate recourse is for me to seek to persuade them that their tastes are bad and that they should change their views and their behavior, not to use coercive power to enforce my tastes and attitudes on others." (Pg. 110-111)
He argues that the effect of unions raising wages in a particular occupation or industry is to "make high-paid workers higher paid at the expense of lower-paid workers." (Pg. 124)
He says that the acceptance by corporate officials of a "social responsibility" other than "to make as much money for their stockholders as possible" is a "fundamentally subversive doctrine." (Pg. 133) He also asserts that an incompetent physician who "harms only his patient" is "simply a question of voluntary contract and exchange between the patient and his physician." (Pg. 147)
Friedman's blunt and wide-ranging stating of his positions is rather refreshing, and this book will be of considerable interest to student of the free market.
He said that the basic roles of government in a free society are to serve as "rule-maker and umpire"; he adds, "The need for government in these respects arises because absolute freedom is impossible. However attractive anarchy may be as a philosophy, it is not feasible in a world of imperfect men." (Pg. 25) For example, he admits that monopolies, while "more limited than is supposed... unquestionably do arise." (Pg. 28)
He argues that an "automatic" commodity standard (e.g., under a gold-backed system) "has historically never proved feasible. It has always tended to develop in the direction of a mixed system..." (Pg. 41)
He strongly supports the notion of school vouchers, noting that a poor black inner-city family with a gifted child "is in a very difficult situation. The 'good' public schools are in the high income neighborhoods. The family might be willing to spend something in addition to what it pays in taxes to get better schooling for its child. But it can hardly afford simultaneously to move to the expensive neighborhood." (Pg. 92)
More controversially, he asks, "Is there any difference in principle between the taste that leads a householder to prefer an attractive servant to an ugly one and the taste that leads another to prefer an (Africen-American) to a white... except that we sympathize with the one taste and may not with the other?" He adds, "In a society based on free discussion, the appropriate recourse is for me to seek to persuade them that their tastes are bad and that they should change their views and their behavior, not to use coercive power to enforce my tastes and attitudes on others." (Pg. 110-111)
He argues that the effect of unions raising wages in a particular occupation or industry is to "make high-paid workers higher paid at the expense of lower-paid workers." (Pg. 124)
He says that the acceptance by corporate officials of a "social responsibility" other than "to make as much money for their stockholders as possible" is a "fundamentally subversive doctrine." (Pg. 133) He also asserts that an incompetent physician who "harms only his patient" is "simply a question of voluntary contract and exchange between the patient and his physician." (Pg. 147)
Friedman's blunt and wide-ranging stating of his positions is rather refreshing, and this book will be of considerable interest to student of the free market.
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