I think almost every economist would agree that government gets itself in trouble when it tries to interfere with voluntary behavior. Milton Friedman More Quotes by Milton Friedman More Quotes From Milton Friedman A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both. Milton Friedman equalitydegreesfreedom When a man spends his own money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about how much he spends and how he spends it. When a man spends his own money to buy something for someone else, he is still very careful about how much he spends, but somewhat less what he spends it on. When a man spends someone else's money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about what he buys, but doesn't care at all how much he spends. And when a man spends someone else's money on someone else, he does't care how much he spends or what he spends it on. And that's government for you. Milton Friedman libertydoemen If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand. Milton Friedman politicalgovernmentyears You cannot be sure that you are right unless you understand the arguments against your views better than your opponents do. Milton Friedman argumentopponentsviews Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player. Milton Friedman motivationmilitaryloss The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits. Milton Friedman profitsocialresponsibility The essential notion of a capitalist society ... is voluntary cooperation, voluntary exchange. The essential notion of a socialist society is force. Milton Friedman libertarianessentialsliberty The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem. Milton Friedman libertarianlibertygovernment The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures, as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline. Milton Friedman weedletting-goloss If capitalism worked as the socialists think an economic system ought to work, and provided a constant equality of living conditions for all, regardless of whether a man was able or not, resourceful or not, diligent or not, thrifty or not, if capitalism put no premiums on resourcefulness and effort and not penalty on idleness or vice, it would produce only an equality of destitution. Milton Friedman effortmenthinking One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. Milton Friedman politicsjudgingmistake Because we live in a largely free society, we tend to forget how limited is the span of time and the part of the globe for which there has ever been anything like political freedom: the typical state of mankind is tyranny, servitude, and misery. Milton Friedman typicalmiserypolitical A society that puts equality — in the sense of equality of outcome — ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests. Milton Friedman purposehandspeople You never can cure poverty. Poverty is in the eye of the beholder. Milton Friedman beholderpovertyeye You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state. Milton Friedman welfareimmigrationstates If you pay people not to work and tax them when they do, don't be surprised if you get unemployment. Milton Friedman unemploymentpaypeople Society doesn't have values. People have values. Milton Friedman valueseconomicspeople There's nothing that does so much harm as good intentions. Milton Friedman libertarianlibertydoe A minimum-wage law is, in reality, a law that makes it illegal for an employer to hire a person with limited skills. Milton Friedman skillslawreality Why have we had such a decline in moral climate? I submit to you that a major factor has been a change in the philosophy which has been dominant, a change from belief in individual responsibility to belief in social responsibility. If you adopt the view that a man is not responsible for his own behavior, that somehow society is responsible, why should he seek to make his behavior good? Milton Friedman responsibilitymenphilosophy
