|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Milton Friedman
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $11.18
You Save: $3.82 (25%)
New (33) Used (13) from $10.96
Rating:  124 reviews
Sales Rank: 1154
Format: Special Edition
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 230
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0226264211
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.122
EAN: 9780226264219
ASIN: 0226264211
Publication Date: November 15, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
|
| Customer Reviews:
Capitalism and Freedom May 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A strong case for limited government and for reducing government's place in a free market economy. Even though 50 years old, it remains timely and thought-provoking.
Great book on economic theory April 4, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
One of the "readers" complained about the failures of the free market...I say 'readers' in quotations because the free market has never failed. There has never been a 100% free market in America, but instead a Mixed Economy...just as there has never been a free market in Africa or anywhere else. There have always been elements of Government control.
The perceived failures of the free market have always come from special favors given by Government to businessmen...thankfully this book does Capitalism justice by refuting the very notion that Socialism resembles a valid political/economic system.
 A fantastic book! March 25, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I picked up this book because I wanted to learn about Milton Friedman and also some economics. Most of the information I have gotten about Friedman were usually from third sources. And depending on a person's political persuasion, the critique was either laudable or damning. We live in a very politically polarized time.
What I discovered was a marvel. Friedman's writing and ideas were convincing and logical. There was no tinge of political right-wing rhetoric as I expected and his views were very well explained. Friedman came across as very reasonable and clear. I believe that he would have advocated an economic idea even if it strayed from his own beliefs as long as it worked.
One of his ideas that I did not know much about was school vouchers. One of the ways of understanding school vouchers is to use the G.I. Bill as an example: Soldiers returning from WW2 service were given higher education vouchers so that they could attend any university or college that they wanted to. The G.I. Bill helped educate a generation of Americans. Everyone benefited because having an educated workforce is to everyone's best interest. A skilled and educated workforce means better jobs and a better standard of living. School vouchers would work exactly like the G.I. Bill would have. Like G.I.'s, parents would receive vouchers and they could then decide where to send their children. Interestingly, many of my progressive friends get fired up against vouchers. But I believe it is because they think that it means that all schools would be privatized. Not so. Taxes would still be collected for public education but instead of funds going to a bureaucracy, it would go to parents instead.
Another piece of information that I found fascinating was Friedman explaining the cause of the Great Depression. I always thought that it was due to the stock market crash but this is only half the story. The stock market crash was bad but the biggest problem was the lack of action by the Fed. It constricted the amount of money in the economy and it also failed to act when banks started to fail: A role that it is supposed to take up and the reason that it was created in the first place.
The last big point that sticks out about this book is Friedman's careful warning about the dangers of crony capitalism. Friedman advises against government subsidies or tax breaks for select industries. Inevitably, these sorts of practices are not only unfair and onerous to taxpayers but they encourage monopoly and are always harmful to free-market forces and to consumers.
There are many, many subjects covered in this small book. Friedman packs more erudite learning into 200 pages than most others could in 500 pages. I feel like I have really learned something after reading this book. I highly recommend that you pick up and read this book if you are interested in economics and Milton Friedman. Don't depend on other sources when it comes to Friedman because as I have found out, they tend not to know about his ideas or are skewered by their political viewpoints.
 Free to Choose is a better read. March 7, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
While I believe Milton Friedman was an intelligent person with some views that are highly intellectually stimulating even when I disagree with them, this is definitely not his best work. Capitalism and Freedom is unnecessarily brief and therefore, the arguments Friedman makes come off as overly simplistic and lacking any real depth. If you're looking for a better read by Milton Friedman, read Free to Choose. The arguments in Free to Choose are much more detailed and therefore, more convincing.
Freedom's Torch and a Libertarian master February 23, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
(There are many topics to comment on in this book. First, I will comment on one general idea and one relevant issue: The stimulus package.)
Friedman, like many of our country's founders, did not trust the collective ability of government to avoid building concentrated power for itself. It is in its nature to aggrandize power by limiting the liberty of those that it is meant to serve. "Economic power is joined to political power, concentration seems inevitable...if economic power is kept in separate hands from political power, it can serve as a check and a counter to political power." (Page16) It is in governments political will to strengthen its power by pandering to populist sentiment and convincing enough of the people to forgo their liberties for guarantees and safety nets. "Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself." (Page 15) Playing on the misconception that large collective power is great enough to surmount all obstacles economic and otherwise. Or that government can take on a paternalistic role, treating citizens like lost children needing a strong hand to guide. Big and unwieldy governments inevitably give way to crony capitalism as it attempts to choose and favor some industries over others; an imbalance is struck that distorts the market making it unfavorable for those who do not have the resources to exploit the discrepancies: "Monopoly...arises from government support or from collusive agreements among individuals...the problem is either to avoid governmental fostering of monopoly or to stimulate the effective enforcement of rules such as those embodied in our anti-trust laws." (Page 28)
Therefore, government should remain as rule maker and umpire. Its role should be limited to overseeing that all elements should have the same rules applied appropriately across the economy. No favorites. Government should stick to enforcing laws and not using it as political patronage. In the long run, those groups and industries that allow its intervention and coercive tendencies will be undermining their own economic well-being for a short period of favoritism or paternalism.
Although this book was written decades ago, it still highlights issues that are relevant to us today. Our congress passed a stimulus package in the amount of $168 billion dollars several weeks ago. Many of our citizens believe that this "stimulus package" will ease the financial duress due to the slowing economy. The politicians that pushed for this package either really believe in its benefits or are simply buying populist votes: "Each recession, however minor, sends a shudder through politically sensitive legislators and administrators with their ever present fear that perhaps it is the harbinger of another 1929-33. They hasten to enact federal spending programs of one kind or another." (Page 76) Friedman addresses the issue of government "priming the pump" or attempting to serve as a "balance wheel" to offset reduced private expenditure: Reduce unemployment and get the economy going again by temporarily increasing government expenditures. By resorting to such poor measures, Friedman offers us a glimpse of our own likely economic outcome. More public debt and less likelihood of reduced taxes with no real long term solutions.
Throughout this book, Friedman details his observations on just how efficient a free private enterprise exchange economy can be. The subjects touched upon are free-trade, the role of government in education, social welfare, fiscal policy and other still relevant topics.
Milton Friedman's economic philosophy of free-markets, free-trade, and capitalism naturally extends itself into a more piercing discourse of the philosophy of freedom. Of course, Friedman is an economist and he sees, feels, and analyzes freedom through the devices that the discipline provides him. Except for a few notable exceptions there have been very few economists in the 20th century (and into the 21st) that have been able to use these tools with such magnificent skill and insight as Milton Friedman.
|
|
|
The Outpost Network | |
