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Milton Friedman quotes

English (26)

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“A liberal is fundamentally fearful of concentrated power. His objective is to preserve the maximum degree of freedom for each individual separately that is compatible with one man's freedom not interfering with other men's freedom. He believes...” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“Only a crisis— actual or perceived—produces real change.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“He moves fastest who moves alone.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government. Columbus did not set out to seek a new route to China in response to a...” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both as a forum for determining the 'rules of the game' and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“In such an economy, there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open...” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“Fundamentally, there are only two ways of co-ordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion—the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary...” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The need for government in these respects arises because absolute freedom is impossible. However attractive anarchy may be as a philosophy, it is not feasible in a world of imperfect men.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“Make the advocacy of radical causes sufficiently remunerative, and the supply of advocates will be unlimited.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The power to do good is also the power to do harm; those who control the power today may not tomorrow; and, more important, what one man regards as good, another may regard as harm.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“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.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing governmental power.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The nineteenth-century liberal regarded an extension of freedom as the most effective way to promote welfare and equality; the twentieth-century liberal regards welfare and equality as either prerequisites of or alternatives to freedom.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“On the one hand, freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself. In the second place, economic freedom is also an indispensable means toward the achievement of...” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The fact is that the Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“The major disadvantage of the proposed negative income tax is its political implications. It establishes a system under which taxes are imposed on some to pay subsidies to others. And presumably, these others have a vote.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“To paraphrase Clemenceau, money is much too serious a matter to be left to the Central Bankers.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“There is no law of conservation which forces the growth of new centers of economic strength to be at the expense of existing centers.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“As liberals, we take freedom of the individual, or perhaps the family, as our ultimate goal in judging social arrangements.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“Exchange is truly voluntary only when nearly equivalent alternatives exist. Monopoly implies the absence of alternatives and thereby inhibits effective freedom of exchange.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“In fiscal policy as in monetary policy, all political considerations aside, we simply do not know enough to be able to use deliberate changes in taxation or expenditures as a sensitive stabilizing mechanism.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
“In which of these respects the public is more stubborn is an empirical question to be judged from the factual evidence, not something that can be determined by reason alone.” Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom

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freedom power government economy liberalism politics money market capitalism crisis equality loneliness civilization state history change imperfection good progress speed

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Capitalism and Freedom (26)