Many statements are not supported by facts

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	• Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition Milton Friedman University Of Chicago Press, 2002 - 230 pages average customer review:based on 121 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Love letter to Capitalism

Although he never uses the term, Milton Friedman would probably be considered a libertarian with his view of a very limited Federal government. The main responsibilities of the Fed would be establishment and enforcement of laws, resolving property rights and maintaining the monetary system. Mr. Friedman considers himself a defender of `classical' liberalism which is essentially the liberalism of the 17th century that concerned itself with the distribution of power, protection of property rights and freedom of individuals.

As the heir apparent to Fredrick A. Hayek, Mr. Friedman takes up the battle against socialism, central planning and the concentration of power. Unlike his predecessor, however, Milton Friedman is extremely specific about the changes he would like to see in the way the U.S. government governs. He would like to see the elimination of rent control, minimum wage, the FCC, Social Security, most business regulations, tariffs on imports, public housing and national parks. Friedman was also an early proponent of school vouchers. In fact he goes so far as to call for the complete `denationalization' (privatization) of public education. The main thrust of Mr. Friedman's argument is that when the government attempts to solve social problems through central planning it invariably causes more problems than it solves, restricts individual freedoms and consolidating power in central planners.

There is an almost mystical reverence in this book for market forces and their ability, if left alone, to solve practically any social ill including racism. The problem is that Friedman presupposes that business will be forced to act in a rational and benevolent manner in order to maximize profits and survive in a competitive marketplace. Unfortunately this is often not the case. Businesses in the south were more than willing to forgo money offered by blacks. As a pro-business liberal Mr. Friedman sees regulations that force shops to hire blacks as unfair and damaging to those businesses that "[serve] a neighborhood inhabited by people who have a strong aversion to being waited on by a Negro clerk". However, Mr. Friedman's argument can be turned around as unfair and anti-capitalistic to blacks who offer their services and are denied based on race. This would apply to anyone barred from the marketplace, not just blacks.

Milton Friedman is so pro-business that he advocates a complete elimination of corporate taxes. In his mind business owes nothing to society and even says, "there is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities to increase its profits". He then goes even further stating that, "Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundation of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible". Not only does Friedman encourage unbridled greed he makes it the number one corporate responsibility in order to protect "free society". Once a person accepts that the relentless pursuit of self interest is the best thing a person can do for society he or she can justify just about anything.

One part of the book that seems particularly dated is Friedman's claim that Capitalism reduces wealth disparity. In fact he holds up the United States as a model for wealth equality. If only this were true. He completely ignores the real and growing threat to freedom brought on by the concentration of wealth because he doesn't see it as a problem. The average voting age citizen is welcome to vote for whichever party they choose at which point the parties in power will adjust policy to the needs of wealthy donors. The Bush administration has turned this it into an art form. Friedman also expresses concern that, "a large fraction of the public scrimps in their productive years to provide themselves with a higher standard of living in old age than they ever enjoyed in the prime of life". Mr. Friedman should be pleased to know that 40+ years after the books publication a large percentage of American's have more debt than assets.

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Many statements are not supported by facts

The author has demonstrated many classical fallacies in this book, such as proof by assertion, appeal to authority, half-truth, incomplete truth, etc. Most statements made in the book are not supported by references to peer-reviewed journals in the field of economics or history, but rather, the author gives you references to books, which is like blind leading the blind. Almost any kind of false or inaccurate information can be published in a book and therefore citing a book as your source is the same as not giving any source at all.

In this book, Milton Friedman presents benifits of capitalism, but fails to mention the problems, and he gives you an equally one-sided picture of socialism (in this case, he shows you the problems only). Strictly speaking, what he calls "capitalism" in this text, is more appropriately called "mixed economy" in economics textbooks. In the modern United States, the government comprises one third of the economy, and it accounts for 50 to 60% of the economy in many other industrial countries, such as Germany, France, and Sweden.

Milton Friedman's discussion of democracy and freedom is equally subjective and normative, as he provides few or no peer-reviewed references to support his statements and the discussion is filled with half-truths and normative statements (proof by assertion).
Some facts that are not presented in the book and go contrary to what Milton Friedman states in this book (do a little research if you are interested):
1) the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, about 10 times higher than in most countries of Western Europe (which are often considered "socialist" and "not free" by free-marketers) and also several times higher than in countries that are generally considered unfree like Iran and China.
2) Nations that have an economic system approaching pure capitalism: Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, do not have a democratic government. During the late 19th century, when the US economy was very close to pure capitalism, there was hardly any democratic government either: women and many blacks were not allowed to vote, the US Senate was not elected but rather appointed by state legislatures (in many cases those US Senate seats were for sale literally), corruption was widespread and reaching the highest echelons of power.
3) Nations that are farther to the left on the economic scale than the United States, such as Norway and Luxemburg, have a higher GDP per capita (these countries are classified as "not completely free" by the compilers of the index of economic freedom). If you compare murder rates, educational achievement, affordability of healh care, life expectancy and other indicators of quality of life, the more market-oriented United States is at the bottom of all other developed countries. On the other hand, there are plenty of countries that are farther to the right than the United States in terms of economics and which have a lower standard of living and lower quality of life: take Chile, Mexico, and the above-mentioned asian countries, for example. Mexico has a lower tax burden and a smaller government (as % of GDP) than the United States, yet you see rampant migration from Mexico to the US, rather than the other way around.

The bottom line is: the world of economics and politics is not as simple and as black-and-white as Milton Friedman would want you to believe.

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True of all great thinkers

Referring to one of the previous reviews of this book, yes, it indeed is still relevant after 40 years. Every socialist lie that people have accepted as truth just because it sounds great is blown to bits in this book. If you want to know what real freedom means and how to achieve it, this book is a great start. Just like the other great economists of the 20th century, whose words and ideas keep on reappearing as new long after their death (Hayek, Hazlitt, Nock, Fisher), this book is one for the ages.

Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman

Very satisfied with the delivery and conditions of the book.

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Must Read

Whether one agrees with his views or not they must acknowledge that Friedman presents new and solid ideas (and examples) to support his argument. Friedman clearly defines the central idea of the book and lays out his point in an interesting and knowledgeable way, unfortunatley (or fortunatley) this book leaves you wanting more because of the interest it stimulates. I purchased the 40th Anniversary Edition and I must say that there would be no need for a 40th Anniversary Edition if this book were not a classic.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

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