Instead, he argues, they have always been produced by “minority views” flourishing in a social climate permitting variety and diversity.” In successive chapters, Friedman develops a well-structured line of reasoning emerging from this stance – leading him to some surprising conclusions that remain persuasive and influential more than 60 years on. For Friedman, indeed, “the great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government”. And, crucially, he argues, real freedom is rarely aided by government. Friedman’s argument focuses on the place of economic liberalism in society: in his view, free markets and personal economic freedom are absolutely necessary for true political freedom to exist.įreedom, for Friedman, is the ultimate good in a society – the marker and aim of true civilisation. His influence, particularly on conservative politics in America and Great Britain, substantially helped – as both supporters and critics agree – to shape the global economy as it is today.Ĭapitalism and Freedom (1962) is a passionate but carefully reasoned summary of Friedman’s philosophy of political and economic freedom, and it has become perhaps his most directly influential work. He identified himself as a libertarian philosopher.Milton Friedman was arguably the single most influential economist of the 20th-century. Enduring in its eminence and esteem, it has sold nearly a million. According to the entry on Friedman in the online Library of Economics and Liberty " he argued for, among other things, a volunteer army, freely floating exchange rates, abolition of licensing of doctors, a negative income tax, and education vouchers". First published in 1962, Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedomis one of the most significant works of economic theory ever written. He was an influential proponent of a free market system with as little government intervention as possible. Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was an American economist who received the 1976 Nobel Prize in economics. What we learned about 70% tax rate 50 years ago.The government's effect on charitable giving.The good intentions and unfortunate consequences of government programs.The result is an accessible text that has sold well over half a million copies in English, has been translated into eighteen languages, and shows every sign of becoming more and more influential as time goes on.Ī short video on Friedman's ideas on what drives economic progress:Īdditional videos in this Friedman Fundamentals series by PolicyEd:
How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In his classic book Capitalism and Freedom Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of his immensely influential economic philosophy-one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom.
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