But even if there were a correct non-arbitrary definition of monopoly in terms of concentration ratios, it still does not logically follow that, at least for the liber­tarian, this ought to be found in violation of law. Milton Friedman's documentary series Free To Choose first aired on PBS 40 years ago. Box 176, Abingdon, MD 21009-0176. He claims that this, too, is an instance of “market fail­ure,” and can be corrected only by gov­ernment. 1981. On Galbraith and on Curing the British Disease. Our address is P.O. Milton Friedman’s libertarian economics advocating shareholder capitalism has influenced generations trying to understand the economy, not only in the US, but all over the world. But that's not allowed to be stated on an aspirin package. The opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University. He states: “the search for justice will kill us all” (verbal statement from Milton Friedman to present author). Fourth, how does Friedman know that “we might all of us be willing to contri­bute to the relief of poverty provided eve­ryone else did”? FRIEDMAN But as a matter of fact there are two really different versions of libertarianism. ROBINSON So part of what's going on is it's natural. 1997. Also it would permit intensive training and a higher av­erage level of skill for the men in service; and it would encourage the use of more and better equipment. Rutgers, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. The Essence of Friedman. A Friedman Prize was given to the late … 1, pp. Epstein, Richard A. But with the advent of vouch­ers, where their owners can cash them in for any type of school, this will change, and for the worse. He was not just an academic economist, but an enormously influential celebrity conservative ideologue who legitimized ideas for the like-minded, including the belief that ‘greed is good’. Department of Justice? At the most extreme8 point on the li­bertarian spectrum is located anarcho-capitalism.9 Here, all functions of gov­ernment would be privatized, and turned over to free enterprise. Written by Alex Horsman. SHARE POST: In recent months, various critics of the late Milton Friedman have argued that Friedman dominated economic policy for a large part of the last half century. ROBINSON Milton Friedman, thank you very much. But look around the world today. A Liberta­rian Perspective,” Human Rights Review, 5 (Oct-Dec): 46-71. Rothbard only influenced his own cult-like following, yet many of his anarcho-capitalists rather “ throw out ” Friedman’s libertarian legacy. “A Life-Saving Lesson from Operation Desert Storm,” The Freeman, 43 (October): 391-93. Health and Human Services? And they're not being allowed to do it. School vouch­ers resemble nothing so much as the mar­ket socialism of Tito’s Yugoslavia. Our show today, libertarianism. To wit, his advocacy of the voluntary military at that time (Block, 1969). On the other hand if you disapprove it, but it turns out to be good, well then later on you approve it four or five years later, nobody's going to complain about the fact that you didn't approve it earlier except those greedy pharmaceutical companies that want make profits at the expense of the public, as everybody will say. Still, he was an independent thinker, and I value that. Were space to have permitted, these, also, could have been added: withholding tax, tradable emissions rights, neighborhood effects, road socialism, the Fed 3 % rule, flexible exchange rates, eminent domain, democ­racy. 1993. “Fanatical, Not Reasonable: A Short Cor­respondence Between Walter Block and Milton Friedman (on Friedrich Hayek),” Journal of Libertarian Studies, 20 (Sum­mer): 61-80. Better keep those premiums down...I'm Peter Robinson, thanks for joining us. The Libertarian Party's 2004 presidential candidate Michael Badnarik had a similar position, writing: "I oppose government control over the abortion issue. ROBINSON So your view is abolish the FDA.. FRIEDMAN Absolutely [ROBINSON And what comes up in its place?] On some issues, this is absolutely correct. Still, he was an independent thinker, and I value that. 2001. Now isn't that a modest and completely acceptable government intervention? ROBINSON Well then we shove it under defense, the little bit that handles the nuclear, plutonium and so forth goes under Defense but we abolish the rest of it. 1998. The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism, 2nd ed. By David Henderson. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. For the last thing a follower of this view­point wants is to improve socialist schooling. Milton Friedman (Nova Iorque, 31 de julho de 1912 — São Francisco, 16 de novembro de 2006) foi um economista, estatístico e escritor norte-americano, que lecionou na Universidade de … Well, the more narrowly one defines it37 the more likely an entrepreneur is likely to find himself in the dock and there is no correct non-arbitrary definition in this regard. FRIEDMAN Absolutely. He states: Now we come to Silicon Valley and Mi­crosoft. What about his (1962) view on “neighborhood effects”? How do they add any incentive to anybody to improve airline safety? Chicago: University of Chica­go Press. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. “Law, Property Rights, and Air Pollution,” Cato Journal, (Spring): 55-99 [reprinted in Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation, Walter Block, ed. FRIEDMAN Basic fundamental functions, what are its fundamental functions? We would rather interpret this as an attempt of the authorities to even further extend their control. Rather, we are merely trying to categorize an eminent scholar’s political economic beliefs. was an intellectual leader of the Chicago School, and swayed the economic policies of Reagan, Thatcher, and Pinochet. Rothbard, Murray N. 2002. There are several reasons. 1989. Rothbard only influenced his own cult-like following, yet many of his anarcho-capitalists rather “ throw out ” Friedman’s libertarian legacy. ROBINSON Didn't even pause over that one..Department of the Interior? ROBINSON And that's too much, should go down to zero. It's in the self-interest of pharmaceutical companies not to have these bad things. The Real American Dilemma: Race, Immigration, and the Future of America. The entire system would be run on the basis of the twin axioms of libertarian homesteading, and the non-aggression axiom. And so over time I have gradually come to the conclusion that antitrust laws do far more harm than good and that we would be better off if we didn’t have them at all, if we could get rid of them (Friedman, 1999). When gov­ernment substituted its easily inflatable fiat currency for this free market money, it constituted, in effect, an act of counter­feiting. 2001. 2001. FRIEDMAN But not only historical, present. For him, it is now in effect an empirical matter. Yet he also recognizes the need for certain government functions. We infer from this decision that he is not a liberta­rian, at least not on this one issue, which is obviously of great importance to him. The idea’s execution was, well, not as great. The Theory of Price. So the result is that the pressure on the FDA is always to be late in approving. 219-29). Milton Friedman was perhaps the most brilliant and productive libertarian ever. This is a per se violation of economic liberty. (Civil issues would be privately adjudi­cated.) Friedman, Milton. The horse race here is between loose libertarianism or minarchism plus, on the one hand, and classical liberalism, on the oth­er. Milton Friedman, An 'Elfin Libertarian' Giant. But virtually every human ac­tion has some sort of “effect” on someone else. Milton Friedman was not just one of the world’s most distinguished economists — he may have also been America’s most famous and influential libertarian. Yet, if we were to apply this doc­trine in that manner, the living standard of the average American would plummet to unimaginable depths. Close. “Roofs or Ceilings?” in Walter Block and Edgar Olsen, eds., Rent Control: Myths and Realities. It wasn't a bad address but it wasn't particularly good. 6Once, at a gathering of the American Eco­nomic Association I attended, he made the following statement that made the assem­blage very proud of being economists. These are not to be used to be the policeman of the world, engaging in “re­gime change” for countries that violate their own citizens’ rights. However, here we are not attempting to determine guilty or innocence for a crime. Friedman wrote Capitalism and Freedom in 1962, 10 years before Nixon’s visit to China, and The Economist was founded to repeal the Corn Laws in 1843. Friedman received the Nobel Prize in 1976, having made significant contributions to several branches of economic theory, while also writing and speaking on public policy issues from a distinctly free‐ market perspective. Is he a libertarian? “The Gold Standard: A Critique of Friedman, Mundell, Hayek, Greenspan,” Managerial Finance, 25 (5): 15-33. ROBINSON Once again, on balance , get rid of the FDA. [ROBINSON I see, ok.] And you have to have..people should be responsible for harm that they do. “The Mi­crosoft Corporation in Collision with An­titrust Law,” Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies, 26 (Winter): 287­302. Friedman, Milton. So that if customers really wanted to know about the ingredient, it would be in the self-interest of the people producing it to put it on their packages. He was a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and is known for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the complexity of stabilization policy. He was especially courageous not just merely for opposing occupational licensure, but for actually applying it to the hitherto sacro­sanct practice of medicine (Friedman, 1962, chapter 9).7. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. For an alternative view of Hayek, see Block (1996, 1999), Block and Garschina (1996), Friedman vs. Block (2006), and Rothbard (1998, pp. La Salle, IL: Open Court. 5Hayek has never claimed the libertarian mantle for himself, but he is as widely considered as such by many of those who consider Friedman in this category. What It Means to be a Libertarian. Milton Friedman calls himself a small “l” libertarian.1 Just because he does so, however, does not mean we have to con­cur with this self-styled description.2As with all empirical matters, we must check the evidence if we are to properly eva­luate such a claim. . FRIEDMAN But no doubt, the thing about that is there is an argument for government requiring those who impose costs on third parties to pay for them. Why is it even more important to do so in this case than in many others? But this week I found myself at a meeting of the Libertarian Alliance, having to defend him against charges of statism. Boaz, David. “Continuums,” Journal Etica e Politica / Ethics & Politics, 1 (June): 151-66. 1987. Just because he does so, however, does not mean we have to concur with this self-styled description. Where is it least rosy? Let me give you an example- Thalidomide [FRIEDMAN Everybody's favorite example...] Well I may be leading with my chin on this one but I'm going to lead with it anyway. The Road To Serf­dom. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. The Minimum Wage Rate. Here he is an out and out leftist. Our guest, the Nobel prize winning economist, Milton Friedman. Aside from the effect on fighting spirit, this would produce a lower turn­over in the armed services, saving pre­cious man-hours that are now wasted in training or being trained. In actual point of fact, the demarcation between anarcho-capitalism and minarchism and between minarchism and looser libertarianism or minarchism plus is reasonably sharp. But there are cases like the power plant that emits smoke that dirties my shirt in which the company is imposing a cost on me for which I'm not being compensated. ROBINSON So on the environment, the greens actually do have a point, that is one area where there is a strong case... FRIEDMAN But in most cases in practice, when you look at it, and there are some people up at PERC as you know who have Terry Anderson, who I'm sure has been on your program, who have demonstrated that there are many many cases in which market arrangements are far more effective than command and control arrangements. There are several reasons. amendments that came in as a result of Thalidomide which you brought up, the FDA was, expanded its mandate that it is required to assure both the safety and the efficacy of the drugs and that has enormously raised the cost of getting drugs approved. The Ethics of Liberty, Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Hu­manities Press. Hailed as the godfather of conservative libertarianism, Milton Friedman quotes openly attacked Keynesianism in an era when most economists widely accepted its fundamental premises. 1962. Writing in Liberty magazine (February 2007), Bruce Ramsey made the argument, “Milton Friedman was not just a figure in the libertarian movement. FRIEDMAN And where it's almost impossible to make them precise. There are low skilled individuals such as teenagers or individuals from minorities, which generally could have worked for lesser wages and gained experience which could help them advance. For example, if he sells at a price deemed by the state apparatus to be too high, he is found guilty of profiteering or price gouging. Milton Friedman was an American economist and leading representative of the Chicago School during the last half of the 20th century. Boston: Kluwer Academic. Let us now consider the U.S. invasion of Viet Nam, and Friedman’s contribu­tion to that event. 24The wearing of perfume is a positive exter­nality for some, and a negative externality for others, indicating the intellectual incoherence of the entire doctrine. FRIEDMAN Well, given the problem there is you first have to sell off all the land that the government owns but that's what you should do.. [ROBINSON But it could be done pretty quickly..] It could be done, you should do that, there's no reason for the government to own...the government now owns something like 1/3 of all the land in the country. There is no right at all that would justify such under­takings, at least not according to liberta­rianism. It is difficult to see how this line of reasoning can be reconciled with liberta­rianism. New York: Random House. The US Nobel economist Milton Friedman was one of the most effective critics of big government of his time – mainly, the second half of the twentieth century. Absolutely, absolutely.. ROBINSON Alright, if Lilly or Merck comes up with a drug that does me harm, I go after them, I join a class action with everybody else who's taken that pill and we sue them for billions of dollars and wipe out their share holders equity. And what we aim for is the least shade of grey that's possible. Sup­pose we lived in a society where the insti­tutions for feeding ourselves were on the same plane as education now is. He was, at a time when it was deeply unfashionable in official circles, a fierce critic of Keynesian economics. As a libertarian, Dr. Friedman believes in the maximum possible freedom for the individual. Why is it even more important to do so in this case than in many others? Right.] Department of the Interior, your beloved national park service? If someone has not formed mens rea, he cannot be guilty of a crime, only, at most, negligence. This site rocks the Classic Responsive Skin for Thesis. Video. 1796. Milton Friedman calls himself a small “l” libertarian.1 Just because he does so, however, does not mean we have to con-cur with this self-styled description.2 1Small “l” as opposed to large “L.” This re-fers to the Libertarian Party. Lenin knew well that the surest way to undermine a society is to debauch its currency.17 A large part of the blame for the rise of Hitler in the 1930s was the German hyperinflation of the 1920s, which pretty much unraveled the entire economy. FRIEDMAN You can regard the Veteran Affairs as a way of paying essentially salaries for services of those who've been in the armed forces but you ought to be able to get rid of it. A Program for Monetary Stability. Cite This Article. Ferrini, Luca. 1995. 2003. He was a leader of the second generation of libertarian economists to come out of the University of Chicago. ROBINSON We'll eliminate half of the Department of Health and Human Services? You're an FDA official, you have a question of whether to approve or disapprove a new drug. That is, declare pover­ty to be a criminal offense. 2005. this is a case in which they did save lives, this was a good case, but suppose they are equally slow in adopting a drug which turns out to be very good and beneficial. Today. First and foremost, Friedman is widely and heavily asso­ciated in the public mind with libertarian­ism. If Friedman supports the voluntary military so as to promote the unjustified war efforts of the U.S. government, he is to that degree not a libertarian; indeed, he is an enemy of this philosophy. 1992a. One of the most vexing questions for the framers of the Constitution was how to create a vigorous and independent executive without making him king. 2007. In Friedman’s view, this crime is triggered solely on the basis of too high a concentration ratio in a given industry. ROBINSON Milton Friedman has told us why the government's role in our lives should be limited, but how limited? I am not going to argue about the technical aspects of whether Microsoft is guilty or not under the antitrust laws. Friedman, Milton. Friedman, Milton. His deviations from this philosophy are simply too wide, deep and important for any such categoriza­tion. With this overview, which hopefully will enable us to identify the players without a scorecard, we can now attempt to cate­gorize Milton Friedman. Milton Friedman calls himself a small “l” libertarian.1 Just because he does so, however, does not mean we have to con­cur with this self-styled description.2 As with all empirical matters, we must check the evidence if we are to properly eva­luate such a claim. 19Silver played a secondary, but still signifi­cant role. It cannot be denied that they would introduce a modicum of competi­tion to the public schools, which sorely need it. It is based on whatever medium of exchange is selected by people who are “free to choose”18 amongst competing alternatives. And there's enormous evidence that they have caused more deaths by late approvals than they have saved by early approval. If the next few econometric regressions indicate that this evil and pernicious law on net balance does more good than harm, he would be open to once again changing his mind. And so the only case for government is when it is not feasible for market arrangements to make individuals pay, to compensate others for any harm they impose on them. Their careers almost entirely overlapped, yet one left a lasting influence on the free world, while the other died in more or less absurdity. 1997. Writing in Liberty magazine (February 2007), Bruce Ramsey made the argument, “Milton Friedman was not just a figure in the libertarian movement. Market socialist nostrums cannot reason­ably count as any form of libertarianism (not even the weakest version, classical liberalism). “The Real Costs of a Volunteer Military,” New Individualist Review, 4 (Spring): 13-16. Do you think the manufacturer of Thalidomide made a profit out of Thalidomide or lost? This site appears by authority of the Libertarian Party of Maryland, Eric Blitz, Treasurer. The Increasingly Libertarian Milton Friedman The most respectable libertarian got more radical with age. In the early days, you know there are very few things that are 100% black or 100% white, there are various shades of grey. Friedman For him, the free enterprise system is simply incapable of providing this lifeblood of the economy, e.g., the gold standard. On others, he is no better than a market so­cialist. He was not just an academic economist, but an enormously influential celebrity conservative ideologue who legitimized ideas for the like-minded, including the belief that ‘greed is good’. Milton Friedman is the Establishment’s Court Libertarian, and it is high time that libertarians awaken to this fact of life. Here in California it turns out there are 30 million people who like to breath. FRIEDMAN When you do it now, by selling the right to emit a certain amount of pollutants into the air. For, at present, the malevolent hand of government only lightly rests on the shoulder of the overall educational mar­ketplace. -In those countries where things that are run by the government not in those countries where private enterprises are. First and foremost, Friedman is widely and heavily asso­ciated in the public mi… Democracy, the God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order. Now, it would strike a lot of people living in Manhattan that Central Park is very important to their lives and that if Milton Friedman had his way, it would be turned over to the market and buried under skyscrapers and parking lots within 18 months or however long it takes Donald Trump to put the structures up. Friedman, Milton. His opposition to the “War on Drugs” (1992a, 1998) is a dramatic case in point. And the point is with respect to smog, the efficient way to do it is to use the market. In a universal-suffrage democracy, it is impossible. 1980. It is thus my contention that this economist’s claim to the mantle of liber­tarianism cannot be sustained. Alright? 2See, for instance, the following websites: ROBINSON But who should take care of the resources that we all share, such as the air we breath? 34A communist school would be an entirely different thing, for some inexplicable reason. The police function is primarily local and central. If we can­not make reasonable distinctions, such as the one the present paper is attempting to establish, then our efforts are to that ex­tent less scientific. Second, categorization is a very im­portant aspect of political economic anal­ysis (Block and Cwik, 2007). “Is There a Right to Immigration? Then, there is his negative income tax (Friedman, 1962, 1963). She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. ROBINSON But there must be some area- food and drugs for example where public safety can only be insured through government involvement, right? “On Immigration: Reply to Hoppe,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, 21(Fall): 25-42. Journal of Libertarian Studies 16, No. 1977. 4 (2002): 37–54. Machan, Tibor. Stanford: Hoover Institution. All property other than that needed to perform these three functions (army barracks, planes, tanks and guns, police stations, jails, courthouses) would be privately owned. The purpose of the law, legitimate law that is, is to distinguish between licit and illicit behavior, and to ban the latter. To put it differently, we might all of us be willing to contribute to the relief of poverty provided everyone else did. ROBINSON Alright collect taxes through the Treasury. [ROBINSON Dickens didn't stroll around the countryside..] Right.. ROBINSON So what you're saying then is that this mental image that drives even to this day so much of the environmental debate is simply, it may be true as far it goes, but you'd advise greater historical understanding. Cite This Article. Consider how one goes about persuading people to accept Milton Friedman’s libertarian economic ideas when, in practice, they shift economic rents upwards and desperation downwards. Friedman, Milton. Milton Friedman was not just one of the world’s most distinguished economists — he may have also been America’s most famous and influential libertarian. 1965. Again, it is the very lifeblood of the economy. If he fa­vors the ending of the draft despite the fact that he thinks it will promote this foreign adventurism, his motives are completely compatible with libertarian­ism. Morris Fiorina is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Wendt Family Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Now so far as child labor is concerned..what happens is, what happens in the picture that's drawn of Britain in the 19th century is that there's no image of what went before. Second, Friedman is not interpreting poverty as a negative externality. That's one brand, now there's another brand which is one I would be favorable to which you could call consequentialist libertarianism. ROBINSON OK one half. Milton Friedman - Self-Interest & Self-Ownership[It is your right to smoke any drugs.] However, I doubt whether Rothbard would have allowed so serious a deviation from free enterprise principles as this, even if it were the only one: In a television interview (video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6813529239937418232, beginning around 15:23) Fried­man endorses the New Deal WPA and PWA as necessary emergency action. 1998. ROBINSON Now you just touched on something very important because one of the things I'm trying to distinguish here is the extent to which your libertarianism is effectively a moral position, you do it because it's right and just, it creates the greatest conditions of justice and the extent to which you do it because it works. 1996. Oakton, VA: Ameri­can Renaissance. How does Friedman stack up on the issue of monopoly? And yet this outrage garners Friedman’s support.20 This is not even minarchism plus. Friedman, Milton. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press. At the outset, Friedman’s assertion that he should be considered a small “l” libertarian looks like an eminently rea­sonable one. That's the prime view, that's the Ayn Rand type of libertarianism. The Godfather of American conservative libertarianism, Milton Friedman was a leader of the second generation of libertarian economists to come out of the University of Chicago – including Sowell, Becker, and Fogel. If A buys a loaf of bread, he slightly raises its price higher than that which would otherwise have prevailed, worsen­ing the economic welfare of all other cus­tomers (and raising it for sellers). In other words, even his renunciation of his previous statist views falls short, far short, of being a matter of libertarian principle. “Policy Forum: The Business Community’s Suicidal Im­pulse.” Cato Policy Report, 21 (2) March-April (http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v21n2/friedman.html). 1995. For a supposed libertarian to actually support such a legal monstros­ity is an outrage. And we have, particularly in the L.A. basin, smog beginning in the 1970's that the environmental movement begins to... FRIEDMAN Oh no, the smog went back 200 years. Is he an anar­cho-capitalist? You forget, what happened to Central Park. Who has the most interest in preventing airline accidents. We're not going to enter into it unless both of us think it's better for us. There is a whole range of eco­nomic and personal liberties on the basis of which this Nobel Prize winning author can be considered well within the main­stream of libertarian thought. It happens to be there two kinds, there are private-for-profit enterprises and not-for-profit enterprises like the museum, like the opera house and so on. And yet they don’t typically mean that in a complimentary way. Thursday, February 13, 2020. Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist, statistician, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades. 1967b. We might not be willing to con­tribute the same amount without such as­surance …. FRIEDMAN It doesn't take a governmental agency to maintain the theaters in New York. I believe that giving the government control of this issue could lead to more abortions rather than fewer, because the … Milton Friedman is the Godfather of American conservative libertarianism. If anything, the very opposite is the case. How are they going to do it? 1992b. And yet they don’t typically mean that in a complimentary way. In Russia! 1998. Too, government is assigned the task of supplying a monetary medium, and taking on some limited14 responsibility regarding health, education and welfare.15. Let's ask him about the structure about the federal government itself. ROBINSON Ok, terrific. FRIEDMAN What do you mean by civil rights? 13For instance, Hayek (1944); for a critique see Block (1996). Hayek, Friedrich A. 25None at all, would be the libertarian re­sponse. Friedman, Milton. Unfortunately, Friedman himself may be partially to blame for this because of his emphasis on profit-seeking rather than fulfilling the desires and goals of shareholders. “Milton Fried­man Unraveled,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, 16 (Fall): 37-54. Milton Friedman calls himself a small “l” libertarian. Brian Doherty | 11.20.2012 10:30 AM The frontlets upon her brows would no longer beam with the ineffable splendor of freedom and independence; but in its stead would soon be substituted an imperial di­adem, flashing in false and tarnished luster the murky radiance of dominion and power. What are the elements of the libertarian movement and how does one of its most illustrious proponents, Milton Friedman, apply its tenets to issues facing the United States today? Editor’s note: This essay is an excerpt of the new Hoover Press book Milton Friedman on Freedom, edited by Robert Leeson and Charles G. Palm. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Friedman is thus maintaining that while he does not vote for the latter, perhaps for strategic reasons, its philosophy on political economic issues is closest to his own, of all political parties. Here, he again fails. Another prominent supporter is Charles Murray. The point is, one can attain any market share by employing purely legitimate means; therefore, it is impossible to infer rights violation from such a source. Surely people living abroad have just as much “right”25 to the wealth of Ameri­cans. A smaller, but more highly skilled, technically compe­tent, and better armed force could provide the same or greater military strength.32. The FDA initially had the requirement to assure the safety but not the efficacy of the drugs that they approved. Block, Walter. Dear Capitolistas, The New York Times recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of Milton Friedman’s influential New York Times Magazine essay, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” with a great idea: having Thought Leaders™ from across the political spectrum opine on the essay and its impact. The Econom­ics and Ethics of Private Property: Stu­dies in Political Economy and Philoso­phy. We must apply them, without fear or favor. It is difficult to reconcile this with the libertarian philoso­phy. Too bad he does not apply this to monetary economics, one of his chief fields of specialization. Such libertarians are a minority. My own views about the antitrust laws have changed greatly over time. It is as certain as anything can be that the U.S. government, at least as presently constituted, would never countenance a Nazi elementary school, where the kiddies drew swastikas, goose-stepped, sung the Horst Wessel song, etc.34 If so, then the government must of necessity promulgate rules that distinguish “legitimate” grade schools from illegitimate ones. But as I watched what actually happened, I saw that, instead of promot­ing competition, antitrust laws tended to do exactly the opposite, because they tended, like so many government activi­ties, to be taken over by the people they were supposed to regulate and control. Not too well. And that's just the kind of issue we'll be talking about with Milton Friedman today. Let us try this out with food. SHARE POST: In recent months, various critics of the late Milton Friedman have argued that Friedman dominated economic policy for a large part of the last half century. Block, Walter and Gene Callahan. Friedman is thus maintaining that while he … None would bar it, outright. 1960. See also on this Sowell (1999). He founded the nonprofit Seasteading Institute, which … In contrast, one combs in vain through the writings of other economists, such as Mises or Rothbard, in an attempt to find support for this dogma that in principle justifies govern­ment action (taxes or subsidies) since ordinary economic activity can be inter­preted as helping or hurting others, with­out compensation in the market. To this end there are but three legitimate institutions. ROBINSON Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge, I'm Peter Robinson. Huerta de Soto, Jesus. Milton Friedman was born in 1912 and died in 2006. Block, Walter and William Barnett II. The only possible reason is that they mistakenly associate Friedman with the right, or with libertarianism, and reject his socialist propos­als on that ground alone. Vouchers, at least, would eliminate one of these, the latter. Here, Friedman is supporting a policy of subsidizing poverty. No, es­pecially for Rothbard, the only time force is justified is when it is used against someone who has first initiated a property rights violation against someone else. I see the way you work with graduate students...Now, if I may, let me take you through a series questions that are floating around in the modern mind and ask how a libertarian addresses them. I don’t want government telling private businesses telling what they can and can’t do. Oi, Walter Y. What do you do..how did that come to be? Department of Agriculture? A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. FRIEDMAN Let me give you a different example. 4 (2002): 37–54. Friedman, Milton. 17Keynes attributes this statement to Lenin: www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnmaynar124917.html. Anderson, William, Walter Block, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Ilana Mercer, Leon Snyman and Christopher Westley. Housing and Urban Development? Box 176, Abingdon, MD 20009-0176. 18This is the title of one of Friedman’s books (1980). “The Drug War as a Socialist Enterprise,” in Arnold S. Trebach and Kevin B. Zeese, eds., Friedman & Szasz on Liberty and Drugs. He was a leader of the second generation of libertarian economists to come out of the University of Chicago. Milton Friedman in his PBS special ‘Free to choose‘ explains the detriment the so-called for-the-people-laws such as minimum wages brings. London: Institute of Economic Affairs. But the libertarian does not welcome slight improvements in socialism; he favors instead an eradica­tion, root and branch, of this pernicious system. He was, at a time when it was deeply unfashionable in official circles, a fierce critic of Keynesian economics. Here his pigeon-holing speaks for itself: market socialism, a bare one-step up from pure socialism.35. Did they come to the city because they thought it would be worse? Overall, I would characterize him as a classical liberal, but not a libertarian, even utilizing a relatively inclusive defi­nition of that term. Milton Friedman, an 'Elfin Libertarian' Giant. FRIEDMAN Well it's not even clear that the passengers have more interest than the airlines because included in the passengers are the pilots. [ROBINSON Today.] Washington, George. Washington, DC: The Free Society Association. New York: Free Press. 1997. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. Rather, he is viewing the alleviation of poverty through forced income transfers as a posi­tive externality. This may sound like strong language for dramatic affect. “Teach­ing Business Ethics: A Classificationist Approach,” Business Ethics: A European Review, 16 (April): 98-107. Sowell, Thomas. Washing­ton, D.C.: The Drug Policy Foundation, 1992. Which functions? Department of Education? 11See Murray (1997), Boaz (1997), Epstein (1995), and Machan (1990). ROBINSON Disraeli and his social...the child labor laws... FRIEDMAN No, no what cleaned it up was the progress of private enterprise because you had a...the reason it was so messy was because you had to burn coal and the kind of coal that was available in Britain was very smokey and messy. ... I’m a libertarian, I totally understand why people are wary of lockdowns and mask mandates.