Milton Friedman, the author of 'Capitalism and Freedom', was a Nobel prize-winning economist, and adviser to Ronald Reagan & Margaret Thatcher, and has been an iconic Libertarian figure for many years.
Although some of his arguments were controversial, he has helped open the discussion about the proper role of Government and a free-market economy.
Below are some of Milton Friedman's most popular quotes.
Milton Friedman Quotes
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“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”
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“The great virtue of a free market system is that it does not care what color people are; it does not care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy. It is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another.”
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“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”
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“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”
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“Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.”
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“See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's true.”
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“The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both”
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“Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.”
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“The combination of economic and political power in the same hands is a sure recipe for tyranny.”
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“Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is the power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority. The preservation of freedom requires the elimination of such concentration of power to the fullest possible extent and the dispersal and distribution of whatever power cannot be eliminated — a system of checks and balances.”
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“The great danger to the consumer is the monopoly— whether private or governmental. His most effective protection is free competition at home and free trade throughout the world. The consumer is protected from being exploited by one seller by the existence of another seller from whom he can buy and who is eager to sell to him.” -
Be sure to check out Milton Friedman, a world-class economist, and philosopher, in greater volume if you enjoy these quotes!
