Milton Friedman
American economist (1912 to 2006) and 1976 Nobel laureate in economics who argued that competitive markets are a precondition of political freedom and that government power should be limited and dispersed.
From the book Capitalism and Freedom20 korrents
Milton Friedman did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Their wordsWhen that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsThat, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Our reading
To a free person, the country is the individuals who compose it, not something above them
Their wordsTo the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Our reading
A free person sees government as a means, neither a giver of favors nor a master to be worshipped
Their wordshe regards government as a means, an instrumentality, neither a grantor of favors and gifts, nor a master or god to be blindly worshipped and served.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsFreedom is a rare and delicate plant. Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Our reading
A free person asks neither what the country can do for them nor what they can do for the country
Their wordsfree man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Our reading
Their wordsThe second broad principle is that government power must be dispersed.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsIf government is to exercise power, better in the county than in the state, better in the state than in Washington.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsEconomic arrangements play a dual role in the promotion of a free society.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Our reading
History suggests capitalism is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for political freedom
Their wordsHistory suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsIn order for men to advocate anything, they must in the first place be able to earn a living.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsThe use of political channels, while inevitable, tends to strain the social cohesion essential for a stable society.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsWhat the market does is to reduce greatly the range of issues that must be decided through political means, and thereby to minimize the extent to which government need participate directly in the game.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsFreedom is a tenable objective only for responsible individuals. We do not believe in freedom for madmen or children.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsPolitical freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Our reading
Their wordsThe consistent liberal is not an anarchist.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsGreat Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsit is desirable to let men follow the bent of their own interests because there is no way of predicting where they will come out.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsThere is no personal rivalry in the competitive market place. There is no personal higgling.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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Their wordsThe major disadvantage of the proposed negative income tax is its political implications.
↗Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002 edition)books.google.com All 20 from this book
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