Thursday, November 17, 2011

Advocate for Freedom

Capitalism and Freedom
Capitalism and Freedom 


“The great virtue of a free market system is that it does not care what color people are; it does not care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy. It is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another.” 
“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”
"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself."
― Milton Friedman



I recently saw an encore presentation of a classic interview of Milton Friedman by Brian Lamb on Booknotes. This interview reminded me that this book is one of the most important books I have ever read. Capitalism and Freedom was a primary contributor to my decision to major in Economics in college. As a freshman in the fall of 1967 I was privileged to be part of the "Honors" program and one of the courses I took as part of that program of studies was Economics. One of our readings was this little (it is relatively short) book by Milton Friedman. It is a powerful little book full of exciting ideas about the power of capitalism and the importance of free market and the fundamental premise that freedom is the foundation for prosperity. I was moved to read and discover more about the science of economics and now, more than forty years later, I still consider the lessons of Milton Friedman, who would be awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976,  in this book, and in his many others including the great Free to Choose, to be foundational for my view of the world.


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