Free markets average the opinion of players--they do not solve acute problems.

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	• Free to Choose: A Personal Statement Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman Harvest Books, 1990 - 360 pages average customer review:based on 78 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

As relevant today as when first published

To anyone who believes in libertarianism, this book is as relevant today as it was when first published. The Friedmans wrote the book with a general audience in mind, so it avoids much of the jargon of economists and rather tries to ground their arguments in good straight forward common sense. The Friedmans for most of their careers were bucking against the economic establishment. Yet so much within the book that they advocated, from sound money to decreasing government intervention in the economy, has come to pass. Even their main belief, school choice, is no longer considered a fantasy but is something under serious consideration.

Many people claim that "Free to Choose" converted them to libertarianism (though Milton Friedman always considered himself a "liberal"). I read this book long after I ended up there. But whether you are interested in libertarianism or have long been converted, this book is an essential part of your education.

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There were no "Neo-Keynesians" before Uncle Milton!

Pure intelligence.

Most articulate defense of free markets, individual liberty, unfettered entrepreneurialism, and "The American Way" that I have ever encountered.

Reagan may have been the great missionary of free markets and deregulation, but Friedman was undoubtedly the high priest. The greatest testament to the prescience of this book is that most of Milton's ideas have generally become conventional wisdom in the past quarter century.

The past 25 years have been an unquestionable vindication for Milton's theses- the US has experienced unparalled growth and low inflation due to pruning of Governnment bureaucracies and disciplined monetary policy, respectively. This economic "utopia" should come as no surprise; Friedman presents a plethora of anecdotal and empirical evidence for the problems that inevitably arise absent favorable regulatory and monetary conditions.

I wish someone had given me this book in high school while I was being inundated with neoliberal nonsense: "uneven distribution of wealth" and a "market failure" caused the depression, rather than lousy monetary policy. Friedman demonstrates that the MARKET had historically provided its own liquidity (e.g., during the Panic of 1907), and that subsequent to outsourcing this function to the Fed, the government dropped the ball in the early '30s by tightening the money supply. Alternatively, Fed Chairman Arthur F. Burns (under pressure from Nixon and others), pursued monetary policy that was far too easy in the 1970s, causing double digit inflation. Thank goodness we have had a succession of competent Fed Chairmen since 1979 (Volcker, Greenspan, and Bernanke) committed to keeping inflation in check.

Friedman also examines the effects of negative externalities (i.e., pollution) and presents a market-oriented approach to managing them, namely emissions trading. (want to feasibly address global warming?)

The main objections to Friedman's theses may arise from those who believe that the global economy is too unfair to American workers. Well, I have news for you- if you're looking for a panacea of lifetime job security and a static competitive environment, you're on the wrong planet. Sorry, there is no "conspiracy" or covert "war on the middle class", it's simply global competition. Your vote is not going to change the inexorable integration of world markets. Get over it.

The real challenge for American workers is how to (cost effectively) equip ourselves to compete in a global 21st century economy. Let's not hoist the flag of protectionism and promote class warfare. Instead, let's place some stock in ourselves and practice personal accountability. Friedman's suggestions for improving the quality of our schools is a good place to start.

I also highly recommend Peter Bernstein's "The Power of Gold" for a good overview of world monetary history.

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An absolute must read for capitalists

This book did for me, a born-and-raised capitalist conservative, what the Bible does for me spiritually. My ideas about capitalism and the free market and government are reborn.

Free markets average the opinion of players--they do not solve acute problems.

Milton Friedman may have agreed that free markets are imperfect in their rewards and punishments of owners of property and workers in factories, mines, farming and trade, etc. But he believed corruption in politics and incompetence in bureaucracies condemn government intervention to correct market failures and trends with planned New Deal like reforms and regulations invite unintended negative results more often than not.

Together with Hayek and Von Mises, Friedman thought the markets for goods and services, driven by low cost producers and entrenched money power, would not defeat democratic societies in the long run.

They would remain self-correcting no matter the degree of poverty and pollution observed as people went on about their business ignoring the advice of Keynesian reformers.

Unfortunately for us, these prophets of narrow parliamentary decisions and wide welcome of mindless profit seeking market outcomes, have helped to bring about the hollowing out of America's manufacturing plant, the wreckage of infrastructure and the environment, and the failure to develop conscious planning for individual economic security by elected governments in the public interest.

The additional failures of governments to better develop global security planning and arrangements flow from their domestic failures caused more by adherence to mindless market practice and avoidance of a new and better new deal than by congenital human stupidity.

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Classic

I read this book years ago, and Milton Friedman's recent death reminded me how perfectly it expressed my own view -- that most things work really well when government just leaves them alone and let's us make the choices. I realized that I had to own this book, and find that it has indeed stood the test of time. It's a masterpiece.

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