Product Description

It is a rare professor who greatly alters the thinking of his professional colleagues. It's an even rarer one who helps transform the world. Friedman has done both." - Stephen Chapman, Chicago Tribune How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In his classic book, Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman presents his view of the proper role of competitive capitalism - the organization of the bulk of economic activity through private enterprise operating in a free market - as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. He also outlines the role that government should play in a society dedicated to freedom and relying primarily on the market to organize economic activity. Friedman begins with a discussion of the principles of a truly liberal society. He then applies those principles to a range of pressing problems, including monetary policy, discrimination, education, income distribution, welfare, and poverty. The result is a book that has sold well over half a million copies in English, has been translated into eighteen languages, and has become increasingly influential in recent years as more and more governments have moved from highly planned economies to embrace free market economics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3599 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-17
• Format: Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 230 pages

Review
"Milton Friedman is one of the nation's outstanding economists, distinguished for remarkable analytical powers and technical virtuosity. He is unfailingly enlightening, independent, courageous, penetrating, and above all, stimulating." - Henry Hazlitt, Newsweek

About the Author
Milton Friedman is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the Paul Snowden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago. In 1976 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. He has written a number of books, including two with his wife, Rose D. Friedman - the bestselling Free to Choose and Two Lucky People: Memoirs, the latter published by the University of Chicago Press.

Customer Reviews

Correlating economic freedom with political freedom, as only Friedman could have!
This book, printed in various formats and languages, is some indication of the fact that Milton Friedman's arguments have not lost currency in the 21st century, even though many people hotly contest their rights and wrongs. The old master of economics hardly wastes time in triggering a debate by stating in the very first chapter: "History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition."

Capitalism and Freedom has been derided, criticised and lauded in equal measure and for Friedmanites it remains the bible. Love him or hate him, the author himself was never one to shy away from controversy. In this book he has pened his thoughts on issues such as the control of money, fiscal policy, role of government in educating the masses, distribution of income, social welfare measures and alleviation of poverty, among others.

Some of his one-liners and thoughts here are hugely engaging. Despite being vehemently opposed to Government intervention in free market economies, he writes that "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 rule of the game and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on."

The book is also packed with what some might interpret as below the belt remarks, if not properly contextualised. For instance, he writes, "With respect to teachers' salaries .... Poor teachers are grossly overpaid and good teachers grossly underpaid. Salary schedules tend to be uniform and determined far more by seniority." (Chapter 6: Role of Education in Government).

Overall, Friedman has made a case for what he construed as competitive and constructive capitalism and I immensely enjoyed reading the Nobel laureate's thoughts. The longevity of his chain of thought is perhaps what makes this book a valuable reference point. That aside, it has been written is an easy to read format which still fans its popularity over forty years after the first edition went to press.

Highly Recommended!
This is a new edition of Milton Friedman's classic 1962 capitalist manifesto. As such, it was ignored, spurned and hated for decades by the intellectual, post-Keynesian establishment. In the 60s, Friedman once found himself debating a liberal who attacked him by simply reciting Friedman's views of the proper role of government. This was working rather well with the audience of college students until he quoted Friedman's opposition to the military draft. Friedman suddenly found himself awash in the unexpected cheers of students. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of his career. Friedman won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, and his ideas gained some degree of mainstream acceptance in the Reagan years - although many of his thoughts remain controversial. To the extent that Friedman debunks myths about the Great Depression that are widely accepted as fact, perhaps he has a point about the semi-privatization of education. We strongly recommend this volume to those who seek a deeper understanding of government's role in a free-market economy.

Vintage, yet compact, Friedman
In the tradition of Hayek, Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom attempts to show the dangers of centralized power. Although it is rather short, much like the Road to Serfdom, and lacks the comprehensiveness of a Free to Choose (also by Milton and Rose Friedman) it still comes across rather forcefully. His attention to principle's, something lacking in our 'pragmatic' politics of today, and his ability to come to logical conclusions is remarkable.

I gave the book five stars because I welcome such analysis and believe the book to have achieved what it set out to do (at varying points in the book Friedman would point out that this book is not meant to be 'thorough' in the sense of a complete exposition and refers the reader to alternate books for further discussion). A must read for all politicians and government types alike (whether in Canada or abroad).