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Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman Quotes

Economist

Milton Friedman was a renowned economist known for his contributions to the field of free-market economics. His research in monetary economics, consumer behavior, and tax policy has had a profound impact.

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Famous Milton Friedman Quotes

“There seems little correlation between poverty and honesty. One would rather expect the opposite; dishonesty may not always pay but surely it sometimes does”

Poverty Honesty Doctors Licence

Book:Capitalism and Freedom

Source: Capitalism and Freedom

“Given greater freedom about where to send their children, parents of a kind would flock together and so prevent a healthy intermingling of children from decidedly different backgrounds.”

Class Economics Choice Intersectionality School Choice Neoliberal

Author:Milton Friedman

“Let us not underestimate the ingenuity of the poor people in converting what they get from the relief worker to what they want. And that’s just wasteful. They would be far better off if we just gave them the money and let them spend it.”

Economics Beer Welfare Allocation Universal Basic Income

Author:Milton Friedman

“Unfortunately, the hardest thing for people to understand is that maybe if you leave things alone, it'll be better than stepping in and trying to do something.”

Central Planning Self Organizing

Author:Milton Friedman

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is that people operating separately, through their joint relations with one another, through market transactions, can achieve a greater degree of efficiency and of output than can a single central planner.”

Free Market Central Planning Self Organizing

Author:Milton Friedman

“A society that aims for equality before liberty will end up with neither equality nor liberty.”

Liberty Equality Socialism Libertarianism Tax The Rich Wealth Gap

Author:Milton Friedman

“These people live in many lands, speak different languages, practice different religions, may even hate one another- yet none of these differences prevented them from cooperating to produce a pencil. How did it happen? Adam Smith gave us the answer two hundred years ago.”

Capitalism Invisible Hand Free Markets Voluntary Exchange

Author:Milton Friedman

“The source of tolerance is the recognition that none of us have the absolute truth. There can be no tolerance without humility.”

Truth Economics Tolerance Milton Friedman

Author:Milton Friedman

“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.”

“So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear that there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free-enterprise system.”

“We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.”

Liberty Society Taxes Economics Conservative Libertarian Lazy Laziness Paying Taxes Being Lazy

Author:Milton Friedman

“The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.”

Problem Government Liberty Solutions Conservative Libertarian Libertarianism Limited Government Solution To A Problem Urban Planning Bad Government

Book:An Economist's Protest

Source: An Economist's Protest

“Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless.”

Government Political Politics Taxes Paper Debt Spending Combination Imperfect Worthless Ink Perfectly Good Ink And Paper

Author:Milton Friedman

“The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.”

Government Literature Painting Industry Civilization Capitalism Architecture Agriculture Free Market Sustainable Agriculture Centralized Government

Author:Milton Friedman

“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”

Government Liberty Program Economics Conservative Libertarian Permanent Temporary Libertarianism Freedom And Liberty Freedom Liberty Government Programs

Author:Milton Friedman

“Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.”

People Want Philosophy Problem Government Political Protect Economics Consumers Urgent

Author:Milton Friedman

“Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.”

Liberty Power Economics Intention Libertarian Libertarianism Good Intentions Limited Government Limiting Government Limited Freedom

Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“Universities exist to transmit knowledge and understanding of ideas and values to students not to provide entertainment for spectators or employment for athletes.”

Ideas Values Understanding Students University Athlete Entertainment Employment Spectators Transmit Knowledge And Understanding

Author:Milton Friedman

“The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.”

Government Economy Periods Depression Privacy Inherent Severe Unemployment Great Depression Instability Mismanagement

Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.”

Reason Liberty Cutting Circumstances Taxes Economics Conservative Excuse Favors Finance Economist Taxation Free Market Government Spending Free Market Capitalism

Author:Milton Friedman

“Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.”

Party Liberty Economic Taxes Gains Assuming Debt Spending Libertarian Tendencies Fixed Expenses Libertarianism Pie Free Market Property Rights Fallacy Wealth Of Nations

Book:Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

Source: Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

“Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.”

Government Political Energy Effects Economics Cynical Devoted Correcting Mismanagement

Author:Milton Friedman

“Inflation is taxation without legislation.”

Money Economics Conservative Finance Legislation Taxation Inflation

Author:Milton Friedman

“There's no such thing as a free lunch.”

Economics Lunch Ecology Free Market Solace Free Market Capitalism Free Lunch Take Nothing For Granted Commoners Opportunity Cost Ecological Crisis Lunch Break Everything Must Go

Author:Milton Friedman

“Governments never learn. Only people learn.”

People Philosophy Government Political Economics

Author:Milton Friedman

“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”

Belief Freedom Liberty Capitalism Economics Argument Libertarian Libertarianism Free Market Market Economy Economic Freedom Free Market Capitalism Free Economy

Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“The world runs on individuals pursuing their self interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn't construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn't revolutionize the automobile industry that way.”

“The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.”

Important Facts Freedom Party Business Economy Benefits Economics Investing Partnership Free Market Market Economy Free Market Capitalism Economy And Economics Free Economy

Author:Milton Friedman

“Every friend of freedom... must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.”

“The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.”

People Way Together Individual Freedom Economy Essentials Economics Partnership Free Market Individual Freedom Free Market Capitalism

Author:Milton Friedman

“The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is that kind of a system.”

Kind Philosophy Problem Political Social Liberty Capitalism Economics Organization Greed Harm Libertarian Arrangements Free Market Capitalism Social Organization

Book:Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's Protest

Source: Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's Protest

“Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation.”

Form Political Business Legislation Taxation Inflation

Author:Milton Friedman

“And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think, excuse me, if you'll pardon me, American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout?”

People Ifs Thinking Doe Political President Virtue Bases Rewards Excuse Communist Pardon Excuse Me American President Clout Pardon Me

Author:Milton Friedman

“I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal.”

People Ifs Want Values Drug Harm Libertarian Favors Illegal Value Systems Legalizing Drugs

Author:Milton Friedman

“Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?”

Self Political Interest Economic Capitalism Self Interest Really True

Author:Milton Friedman

“History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.”

Political History Conditions Capitalism Sufficient Political Freedom

Author:Milton Friedman

“The power to do good is also the power to do harm.”

Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“Columbus did not seek a new route to the Indies in response to a majority directive.”

Capitalism Majority Response Investing Routes Free Market Columbus

Author:Milton Friedman

“The only relevant test of the validity of a hypothesis is comparison of prediction with experience.”

Tests Comparison Statistics Relevant Predictions Hypothesis Validity

Book:The essence of Friedman

Source: The essence of Friedman

“The black market was a way of getting around government controls. It was a way of enabling the free market to work. It was a way of opening up, enabling people.”

People Way Government Black Freedom Economy Economics Opening Working It Free Market Enabling Opening Up Market Economy Free Market Capitalism

Author:Milton Friedman

“Is there some society you know of that doesn't run on greed? You think Russia doesn't run on greed? You think China doesn't run on greed? What is greed?”

Thinking Knows Firsts Wells Running Greed China Russia

Author:Milton Friedman

“One man's opportunism is another man's statesmanship.”

Men Opportunity One Man Another Man Statesmanship Opportunism

Author:Milton Friedman

“The most important ways in which I think the Internet will affect the big issue is that it will make it more difficult for government to collect taxes.”

Thinking Way Important Bigs Government Difficult Issues Internet Taxes Taxation Think Big

Author:Milton Friedman

“Indeed, a major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it... gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“There is only one social responsibility of business”

Social Responsibility Capitalism Social Responsibility

Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“Whenever you try to do good with someone else's money, you are committed to using force. How can you do good with somebody else's money, unless you first take it away from them? The only way you can take it away from them is the threat of force: you have a policeman, tax collector, who comes and takes it from them.”

Way Trying Firsts Force Taxes Threat Committed Policemen Collectors

Author:Milton Friedman

“Saying it is one thing. Doing it is very different.”

Different One Thing

Author:Milton Friedman

“There's no way to avoid a burden on your freedom. The costs themselves are a burden on your freedom. The restrictions that are necessary in order to get rid of the terrorists are a burden to your freedom. So there's no way in the short run to avoid a restriction on your freedom.”

Way Running Order Cost Burden Terrorist Restriction Your Freedom

Author:Milton Friedman

“The state of our educational system is a disgrace to our country. We have an elementary and secondary school system in which close to half of the youngsters never graduate properly. It's a disgrace that there is more illiteracy today than there was 100 years ago.”

Years Country States Today School Half Years Ago Educational Our Country Graduates Disgrace Youngsters Educational System School System Illiteracy Secondary School

Author:Milton Friedman

“In the 1960s, The National Education Association changed its character. The NEA changed into a union. And from that point on you can see deterioration in the quality of schooling in the United States.”

States Character United Quality United States Changed Unions Association 1960s Schooling Deterioration

Author:Milton Friedman

About the Author

Born: July 31, 1912
Died: November 16, 2006
Known for: Economist
Quotes: 400

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Popular Topics

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Books & Sources

Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary EditionRelated source material

Free to Choose: A Personal StatementRelated source material

Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's ProtestRelated source material

An economist's protest: columns in political economyRelated source material

Milton Friedman on Freedom: Selections from The Collected Works of Milton FriedmanRelated source material

There's no such thing as a free lunchRelated source material

The essence of FriedmanRelated source material

An Economist's ProtestRelated source material

Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary HistoryRelated source material

Tax limitation, inflation and the role of governmentRelated source material

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