About this title: Noted economist Friedman outlines his take on capitalism and its role in fostering a viable arena for economic and political freedom. Touching on all aspects of society, CAPITALISM AND FREEDOM looks at the influence the free market can have on issues such as education, welfare, and monetary policy.
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Description: Good. 2002-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: 40 ANNIVERSARY ED
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Country = UNITED STATES
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780226264219ISBN:0226264211
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 210 pages. (210 pages) how can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? milton friedman presents his view of the proper role of competitive capitalism both as a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom edition 40 anniversary ed (Paperback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780226264219ISBN:0226264211
Description: New. How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? Milton Friedman presents his view of the proper role of competitive capitalism both as a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary... read more
Edition: 40 ANV
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780226264219ISBN:0226264211
Description: New. Selected by the "Times Literary Supplement" as one of the "hundred most influential books since the war" How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman... read more
Description: Good. 0226264211 Good condition. May have some markings & or shelfwear. All pages intact. Used items may not include extras such as infotrac, CD or other web access codes. read more
Description: Good. 0226264203 Good condition. May have some markings & or shelfwear. All pages intact. Used items may not include extras such as infotrac, CD or other web access codes. read more
Description: New. 0226264203 Absolutely Brand New. No marks and in pristine condition. Used items may not include extras such as infotrac, CD or other web access codes. read more
"If you're looking for a dry and cerebral argument for why markets tend to be a social good, and in most case the option which gives choice, encourages enterprise, is the preferable one -- then this book, though dated, is still relevant and worth taking a look into. Someone who hasn't studied economics at all probably should seek different primers before delving deep into Friedman's zany free market world.
That being said, Friedman delivers a solid utilitarian argument for limited government and free enterprise. Without much talking about the ethical differences in doing things by voluntary economic means vs. coercive political means, Friedman makes a simple pragmatic argument for markets by comparing the actual results (without regard to ideal visions of either) of the market and of government action on creating wealth, prosperity and alleviating social ills - without looking at the motives or intentions of the parties involved. He does this by looking at all the major government initiatives goals to raise living standards for a group or to combat discrimination over the last century, and showing many metrics for their failures. On the other hand, he takes a look at how markets were able to successfully address things like discrimination, poverty, social welfare, etc.
In reading this book, I came away with feeling that having a mixed economy, by that I mean a mix of capitalism and government intervention, lends itself to corrupting almost every forwarded initiative. Powerful economic interests either promote their own economically destructive measures (destructive to society such as legal monopolies, legal barriers to entry, subsidies, etc -- but profitable to the interests) and pervert any kind of initiative the government otherwise put forward. Playing the blame game of is it the special interests of the corruptible bureaucrats who are to blame is not productive. Curbing the effect of economic influence over political action, or somehow making bureaucrats incorruptible seems futile to me - though I laud the efforts of campaign finance reformers who have been able to diagnose one of the symptoms of a state not acting in our best interests. Ultimately, I think that the only way to combat this misuse of power is to eliminate the concentration of power in the state.
In summary, a great read for anyone economically inclined with a good attention span."
"This book is excellent. Friedman explains why the free market protects liberty, and helps everyone from minorities to Communists. He's prophetic where his policies have actually been tried, and he makes a whole lot of sense in the cases where his solutions haven't been tried yet."
"I found this book to be very informative. Granted, parts of it were dry, but the topics were all very important to understand. Milton is able to deal with subjects is a light, balanced manner that helps the reader understand his perspective and why he believes the most common opposition to his views are incorrect. One problem is that the facts are somewhat outdated, since this is getting a little old, however, it is interesting to see how applicable many of the problems with which he was dealing are to our times. I would recommend this book to a student of Economics, but if it is your first book on the subject, I think I would first recommend Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics."
"I read this after Milton and Rose Friedman's Free to Choose as a text ancillary to those assigned for Dave Schweickart's course entitled "Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy" and found it less offensive and more thought provoking than that later text.
Personally, I share Friedman's libertarianism in the sense of favoring the freedom of everyone to do as they please so long as their so doing does not restrict the freedom of others. This is a political, not an ethical, claim amounting to the belief that governments should no more interfere with individual liberty than with individual religious preferences. Ethically, there are a whole lot of restrictions on behavior which I advocate and try to practice.
I do not share Friedman's sanguine attitude towards supposed rights of ownership. Some of my concern here is political, some ethical. Politically, a representative system such as ours is radically distored by the fact that marketing, which costs money, counts more than votes, which doesn't, in elections. Clearly, this is a matter for law if the principle of free elections is to be maintained. Similarly, other distorting externalities arising from significant differences between incomes and assets would require control. One of these, of course, is the matter of inheritance. Friedman seems to regard individual human organisms as the agents, not families or clans or nations, so it would seem to follow that inheritance should be heavily taxed.
Beyond such political considerations, I have strong ethical objections to two things Friedman advocates: alienated ownership and labor. By "alienated ownership" I mean the legal fictions which allow persons to own properties they don't use and products they don't produce. By "alienated labor" I mean the legal fictions which allow the products of an individual's labor to be owned by others who had nothing to do with its production. Friedman, as I recall after these many years, deals with this by advocating unions--an interesting, ostensible concession to the real world from one normally prone to utopian idealism.
This raises the matter, assuming fundamental values are agreed upon, of how to get from the real to the ideal world wherein such values are instantiated. Is this a proper role for government, or is it more properly a matter for moral exhortation?"
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