Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. Milton Friedman More Quotes by Milton Friedman More Quotes From Milton Friedman Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless. Milton Friedman perfectly-goodink-and-papergovernment 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 differenceslongthinking 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 governmentlongbelieve 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-powerfulhavocpowerful 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 drugseriouslong If you do not force political freedom, economic freedom will be stymied sooner or later. Milton Friedman economicforcepolitical 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 competitiongameslong 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 governmentresponsibilitymean What is not forbidden in Sweden, is obligatory. Milton Friedman forbiddensweden And where are you going to get these angels who are going to run society for us? Milton Friedman angelrunning 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 hockeyrocksfootball There's a smokestack on the back of every government program. Milton Friedman government-programsprogramgovernment Anything that government can do, private enterprise can do for half the cost. Milton Friedman costgovernmenthalf 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 governmentjobspeople 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 jealousschoolmoving 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 achievementpoliticalmean 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-societyblockchoices 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 supportlibertyparent I say thank God for government waste. If government is doing bad things, it's only the waste that prevents the harm from being greater. Milton Friedman wastethank-godgovernment
