About this title: Milton Friedman, author of "Capitalism and Freedom", here examines the relationship between economics and freedom, aiming to make a case for the free market. Friedman concludes that interventionist governments have almost invariably done more harm than good.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780151334810ISBN:0151334811
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket may have chips and close tears. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Good. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HARCOURT BRACE AND COMPANY, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780151334810ISBN:0151334811
Description: Good in Good jacket. Hard cover in good condition, dust jacket is in good condition. The jacket has a few very small spots, and a few small tears along the edges. The book has a little edge wear, and a couple corners have a slight bump, [Satisfaction Guaranteed! ]. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780151334810ISBN:0151334811
Description: Fair in Fair jacket. Pages Curled, Boards Bowed, Boards/Page Ends Soiled, DJ Lightly Soiled, DJ Ffleps Creased, Text Is Unmarked, Reading Copy. read more
Description: Good. } Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1990-11-26
ISBN-13:9780156334600ISBN:0156334607
Description: Good. Different cover art same book. A small amount of highlighting and notes. Crease at spine. Mild edge wear. Sticker on cover. Fast Ship! 100% Guaranteed Purchase! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780151334810ISBN:0151334811
Description: Very good. No dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. No dust jacket, signed inside front cover, otherwise like new. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 338 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Reprinted
Binding: Half-Cloth
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780151334810ISBN:0151334811
Description: No Illustration. Very Good in Very Good jacket. EX-LIBRARY. EXPECTED MARKINGS AND ATTACHMENTS. PICTORIAL DUST JACKET WRAPPED IN MYLAR WITH SMALL TEAR TO EDGES. RED HALF-CLOTH COVER. INTERIOR PAGES CLEAN, BRIGHT AND TIGHT. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Avon Books
Date Published: 1985
ISBN-13:9780380698790ISBN:038069879X
Description: Acceptable. MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
Description: Good. 1990 HBJ Books Softcover(Trade PB) Edition. Slight wear to cover, few small spots/tanning due to age, otherwise in Excellent Condition! Ships Fast! ! ! ! read more
Description: New. Corner Wear; Edge Wear; book has minor shelf wear; This is a New Book. Reliable customer service and no-hassle return policy. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Paperback; First Printing
Publisher: Harvest Books, Orlando
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780156334600ISBN:0156334607
Description: Good+ with no dust jacket. 9780156334600. 1 x 7.9 x 5.3 Inches; 338 pages; Over Size Paperback; No Dust Jacket; Book Shows little Wear. read more
"I learned that Milton Friedman was a genius! Yet I also learned that he's not infallible, his focus on monetarism and seeming disregard for fiscal policy didn't work out. Also he likes the Fed and just thinks they're not being used properly (eg. the great depression would have been prevented if only we would have used the correct type of government interference...) The most interesting and compelling part was his argument for free trade. This is a pretty easy-to-understand book that nearly anyone could pick up and enjoy."
"I really enjoyed this book, and it confirmed some of my fears that I am really a libertarian at heart.
The basic premise is that people should be free to make their own choices whenever possible, and that government's role is to protect us from each other, and not to protect us from ourselves.
The Friedmans argue from a pragmatic standpoint more than from a philosophical standpoint. Generally, government does a poor job with what it touches. We have this idea in our head that government is a sort of nanny, necessary to protect us from the bad decisions that we might make. The Friedmans argue that not only does the market perform this function already, but that the government does a poor job at it.
Because government "protection agencies" are all brakes and no gas, they often create terrible inefficiencies. One of the examples that I found compelling was of the Food and Drug Administration. It takes over a year to get most drugs approved. In that time, there are many people who die of the diseases that those drugs cure, but who are unable to take them. For some of these people, the risk of side effects is worth it, and they would be happy to take their chances. In a market system, people would be allowed to take those chances. In some cases, many times more people die of curable diseases than side effects could ever hurt or kill. Because the FDA will never get in trouble for examining a drug "too thoroughly", but will make headlines if a drug that they approve has dangerous side effects, they err heavily on the side of not approving drugs.
As long as government made sure that information about the drugs flowed freely, and wasn't censored by the drug companies, people would soon find out about side effects and effectiveness, without the FDA.
There are a number of examples like this, where markets do a fine job of conveying information, and government agencies provide unneeded inefficiencies."
"My all time favorite economist. His book and series of videos on this are great. He died when I was in college and that was a sad day for me - I never got the chance to meet him."
"It can be disconcerting to find that you have finished a book but can't really explain what it was about much. That is how I feel about Free to Choose. Yes, this is an economics book, so I can say that it is about economics. I can tell you that the main point here seemed to be that the free market is good, but America is (was, it was written in 1980) at a turning point and will soon have to make a decision about which economic policy it should adopt. I actually read the whole book, cover to cover, I took notes, made an index, I wrote in the margins and asked questions. And yet I find that I am not really clear about what was presented here. This book reminded me of Tocqueville's Democracy in America in the way that it seemed to cover just about every topic you can name. Unlike Tocqueville, however, I didn't get what was said about these topics in relation to economics. I guess this is what mentors are for, huh?"
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