There's a smokestack on the back of every government program. Milton Friedman More Quotes by Milton Friedman More Quotes From Milton Friedman When a private enterprise fails, it is closed down; when a government enterprise fails, it is expanded. Isn't that exactly what's been happening with drugs? Milton Friedman marijuana weed government We do not influence the course of events by persuading people that we are right when we make what they regard as radical proposals. Rather, we exert influence by keeping options available when something has to be done at a time of crisis. Milton Friedman times-of-crisis events people The high rate of unemployment among teenagers, and especially black teenagers, is both a scandal and a serious source of social unrest. Yet it is largely a result of minimum wage laws. We regard the minimum wage law as one of the most, if not the most, anti-black laws on the statute books. Milton Friedman social-unrest teenager book Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it. Milton Friedman libertarian liberty power I am a libertarian with a small "l" and a Republican with a capital "R". And I am a Republican with a capital "R" on grounds of expediency, not on principle. Milton Friedman libertarian republican principles The government doesn't have any money. The only power it has is to take from some and give to others. Milton Friedman government giving There is no logical basis for the prohibition of marijuana. $7.7 billion is a lot of money, but that is one of the lesser evils. Our failure to successfully enforce these laws is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Colombia. I haven't even included the harm to young people. It's absolutely disgraceful to think of picking up a 22-year-old for smoking pot. More disgraceful is the denial of marijuana for medical purposes. Milton Friedman marijuana years thinking Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces the area over which political power is exercised. Milton Friedman liberty political people The Great Depression in the United States was caused - I won't say caused, was enormously intensified and made far worse than it would have been by bad monetary policy. Milton Friedman great-depression united-states made Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power. Government is necessary to preserve our freedom, it is an instrument through which we can exercise our freedom; yet by concentrating power in political hands, it is also a threat to freedom. Even though the men who wield this power initially be of good will and even though they be not corrupted by the power they exercise, the power will both attract and form men of a different stamp. Milton Friedman exercise men hands Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output... A steady rate of monetary growth at a moderate level can provide a framework under which a country can have little inflation and much growth. It will not produce perfect stability; it will not produce heaven on earth; but it can make an important contribution to a stable economic society. Milton Friedman perfect heaven country The strongest argument for free enterprise is that it prevents anybody from having too much power. Whether that person is a government official, a trade union official, or a business executive. If forces them to put up or shut up. They either have to deliver the goods, produce something that people are willing to pay for, are willing to buy, or else they have to go into a different business. Milton Friedman government different people The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit. Milton Friedman freedom party business So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear that there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free-enterprise system. Milton Friedman government ordinary people The facts never speak for themselves. They have to be interpreted in terms of some understanding of where they come from and what the relation between them is. Milton Friedman understanding speak facts I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. Milton Friedman taxation liberty cutting Central bankers always try to avoid their last big mistake. So every time there's the threat of a contraction in the economy, they'll over stimulate the economy, by printing too much money. The result will be a rising roller coaster of inflation, with each high and low being higher than the preceding one. Milton Friedman mistake trying bankers Even the most ardent environmentalist doesn't really want to stop pollution. If he thinks about it, and doesn't just talk about it, he wants to have the right amount of pollution. We can't really afford to eliminate it - not without abandoning all the benefits of technology that we not only enjoy but on which we depend. Milton Friedman technology want thinking The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government. Milton Friedman agriculture government civilization Political leaders in capitalist countries who cheer the collapse of socialism in other countries continue to favor socialist solutions in their own. They know the words, but they have not learned the tune. Milton Friedman cheer leader country
