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 enlarge | Author: Milton Friedman
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $11.45
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Rating:  124 reviews
Sales Rank: 1162
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 item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: C20081229155828P
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| Customer Reviews:
Friedman's first book on the link between freedom and economics December 23, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is the first I had ever read by the late great economist Milton Friedman. I had first heard about him in an article by Ben Buranke I had to read for my economics class that had to do with monetary factors and the Great Depression. I had little idea that as I read more of what he wrote that he would have such a great impact on my way of thinking. It would be a stretch for me to see he changed my way of thinking. I have always been for free markets. However, I had always thought of capitalism as simply a means toward material prosperity while it was democratic political institutions and certain rights such as freedom of speech and of the press that were the sole means of measuring how free a society was.
In this book, Friedman explains that while democracy and civil rights are necessary for a free society, they aren't sufficient. This is especially true for the democracy part. He explains using many examples how capitalism is the best means available for achieving both material prosperity and human freedom.
The most striking example from this book is the hollywood blacklist case. Here were people that were discriminated against by the government because they were communists yet it was the economic system they seeked to destroy that allowed them to find work and continue to live free. Communists also were able to publish their works since the publisher only cared about making profit. He then asks how someone favoring capitalism could have published their views given the state is dominant over every aspect of life in a communist country. The book has some flaws but these are corrected in his more mature work Free to Choose.
 The Hobo Philosopher September 13, 2007
2 out of 17 found this review helpful
I hate to be so outspoken on a review of a book. But I find this gentleman elemental, childish and silly. On top of all of that I do not believe that he is entirely sincere. This man was a statistician and "accountant" not a theoretician. He actually won the Nobel Prize. This I find very hard to believe. I have not given up on him though. But I have yet to find anything that he has written that I can get past the introduction. The more I read of what he has to say the worse it gets.
Like him or not - important to know July 26, 2007
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Overview / Review: Milton Friedman, like him or hate him, is an essential economic theorist to tackle if one is interested in that field or in theories of economic justice. Having a progressive bias, I disagree strongly with many Friedman's theories. Having said that, for anyone interested in getting the essentials of his "liberal" (used in the older, more classic sense) economic views would do well to read this book. Friedman is opposed to state intervention in individual freedom, so many see Friedman as a modern counterpart to Adam Smith. Friedman advocates a free-market economy, with minimal taxation and government interference, because he believes the free market approach assures the greatest measure of freedom, justice, and overall affluence. Many modern conservatives have echoed the arguments he makes herein.
Friedman is actually convincing in his review on a few counts - the abuse of licensure, the problems of tax loopholes, and the fact that there are frequent shortcomings of the well-intended social welfare state. Having said that, however, Friedman does seem unduly biased in favor of a society so individualistic it is therefore almost atomistic, with little to no social cohesion. Some of his arguments are more assertions and claims than full-blown arguments, and one wishes he had addressed major issues in more detail (perhaps he does elsewhere). The book's virtue is that it is brief, but its weakness is also that its arguments are often too brief, and too compact. Karl Marx for example, has many faults in his theory that can be found, but Friedman too casually blows off Marx in about one page of analysis (Chapter 10, p. 167-8). Friedman's argument for a very limited government, and against socialism/communism, would have been more convincing if he had devoted a full chapter to Marx for one, and more attention to other matters of social justice, inequality, and oppression.
In a nutshell: this book encapsulates Friedman's "liberal" or laissez-faire approach to a wide range of issues on economics, government, and capitalism. The free individual is given utmost importance, and government that governs best is that which governs (or interferes) least in his Friedman's view. Not convincing from the standpoint of those interested in progressive social justice (Niebuhr's views on selfishness and power are more cogent), but essential to read and analyze if one is interested in economics and ethics.
 Brilliant July 5, 2007
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Friedman was America's preeminent economists that explained the connection between Political and Economic freedom without the signature econo-techno-babble that is the vernacular of lesser economists. This book should be REQUIRED reading for all high school, or at the very least, college students. I enjoyed it immensely and will be wary of "too many dollars chasing too few goods"!
A hero for freedom June 21, 2007
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is essential reading for all people who wish to live in freedom. There is no one alive today with his insight, intelligence, and charm to promote the fundamental ingredients that go into being free and the advantages that come from it. The arguement is not simple. Those that believe in scarcity (i.e., Marx) have a much easier time. Indeed, most people today find the limits to grow thesis to be much more compelling. The fact that history has shown that it is almost always wrong seems to change few minds. It is through great books like this that people can learn.
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