No major institution in the US has so poor a record of performance over so long a period as the Federal Reserve, yet so high a public reputation. Milton Friedman More Quotes by Milton Friedman More Quotes From Milton Friedman If freedom were not so economically efficient it certainly wouldn't stand a chance. Milton Friedman efficient chance ifs Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless. Milton Friedman perfectly-good ink-and-paper government The difference between me and people like Murray Rothbard is that, though I want to know what my ideal is, I think I also have to be willing to discuss changes that are less than ideal so long as they point me in that direction. Milton Friedman differences long thinking I have long been a critic of Social Security, basically because I believe that it is not the business of government to tell people what fraction of their incomes they should devote to providing for their own or someone else's old age. Milton Friedman government long believe Money is a very powerful thing, which you hardly notice when it goes right, but which can create havoc when it goes wrong. Milton Friedman very-powerful havoc powerful So long as large sums of money are involved - and they are bound to be if drugs are illegal - it is literally impossible to stop the traffic, or even to make a serious reduction in its scope. Milton Friedman drug serious long If you do not force political freedom, economic freedom will be stymied sooner or later. Milton Friedman economic force political So long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. Milton Friedman competition games long What does it mean to say that government might have a responsibility? Government can't have a responsibility any more than the business can. The only entities which can have responsibilities are people. Milton Friedman government responsibility mean What is not forbidden in Sweden, is obligatory. Milton Friedman forbidden sweden And where are you going to get these angels who are going to run society for us? Milton Friedman angel running If the government is to try and ban private consumption of alcohol and tobacco, it must surely ban such activities as hang-gliding, skiing, rock-climbing and so on. Where should it stop? Rugby? American Football? Ice Hockey? Milton Friedman hockey rocks football There's a smokestack on the back of every government program. Milton Friedman government-programs program government Anything that government can do, private enterprise can do for half the cost. Milton Friedman cost government half People hired by government know who is their benefactor. People who lose their jobs or fail to get them because of the government program do not know that that is the source of their problem. The good effects are visible. The bad effects are invisible. The good effects generate votes. The bad effects generate discontent, which is as likely to be directed at private business as at the government. Milton Friedman government jobs people Government power must be dispersed. If government is to exercise power, better in the county than in the state, better in the state than in Washington. If I do not like what my local community does, be it in sewage disposal, or zoning, or schools, I can move to another local community, and though few may take this step, the mere possibility acts as a check. If I do not like what Washington imposes, I have few alternatives in this world of jealous nations. Milton Friedman jealous school moving Freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself ... Economic freedom is also an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom. Milton Friedman achievement political mean Education spending will be most effective if it relies on parental choice & private initiative -- the building blocks of success throughout our society. Milton Friedman our-society block choices In a bureaucratic system, useless work drives out useful work. Milton Friedman useless Consider Social Security. The young have always contributed to the support of the old. Earlier, the young helped their own parents out of a sense of love and duty. They now contribute to the support of someone else's parents out of compulsion and fear. The voluntary transfers strengthened the bonds of the family; the compulsory transfers weaken those bonds. Milton Friedman support liberty parent
