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Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman Quotes

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Famous Milton Friedman Quotes

“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.”

StatesUnitedLibertyVisionUnited StatesCitizensDrugEvidenceArmyFilledLibertarianAlcoholJailCampsUsersLibertarianismEmpoweredCasualFreedom And LibertyProhibitionFreedom LibertyDrug ProhibitionArmed Citizens
Author:Milton Friedman
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“What works for Sweden wouldn't work for France or Germany or Italy. In a small state, you can reach outside for many of your activities. In a homogeneous culture, they are willing to pay higher taxes in order to achieve commonly held goals. But "common goals" are much harder to come by in larger, more heterogeneous populations.”

StatesOrderCultureGoalCommonPayAchieveWillingHigherActivityTaxesHarderPopulationFranceGermanyReach OutSwedenCommon GoalHomogeneous
Author:Milton Friedman
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“Doing good with other people's money has two basic flaws. In the first place, you never spend anybody else's money as carefully as you spend your own. So a large fraction of that money is inevitably wasted. In the second place, and equally important, you cannot do good with other people's money unless you first get the money away from them. So that force - sending a policeman to take the money from somebody's pocket - is fundamentally at the basis of the philosophy of the welfare state.”

PeopleFirstsTwoImportantStatesPhilosophyForceBasesWelfarePocketsFlawsPolicemenDoing GoodFractionsWelfare StateSecond Place
Book:Tax limitation, inflation and the role of government
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“Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion - the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals - the technique of the marketplace.”

WayTwoStatesUseIndividualLibertyMillionsEconomicModernActivityEconomicsArmyLibertarianTechniqueCooperationLibertarianismFree MarketMarketplaceCoercionTwo WaysInvolvingIndividual LibertyTotalitarian StateCoordinating
Book:Milton Friedman on Freedom: Selections from The Collected Works of Milton Friedman
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“The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures, as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline.”

Has BeensImportantStatesGovernmentLossUnitedLibertyUnited StatesEconomicIndustryLetting GoCapitalismMiracleProfitLibertarianPlanningEnterpriseWeedDeclineLibertarianismFree MarketStagnationPrivate EnterpriseFosteringCartelsProfit And LossCentralized Government
Author:Milton Friedman
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“When everybody owns something, nobody owns it, and nobody has a direct interest in maintaining or improving its condition. That is why buildings in the Soviet Union - like public housing in the United States - look decrepit within a year or two of their construction.”

YearsLooksTwoStatesPoliticalPoliticsInterestUnitedUnited StatesConditionsBuildingEconomicsDirectUnionsSovietConstructionImprovingSoviet UnionHousingMaintainingDecrepitPublic Housing
Book:Free to Choose: A Personal Statement
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“Because it is one thing to have free immigration to jobs. It is another thing to have free immigration to welfare. And you cannot have both. If you have a welfare state, if you have a state in which every resident is promises a certain minimal level of income, or a minimum level of subsistence, regardless of whether he works or not, produces it or not. Then it really is an impossible thing.”

IfsStatesJobsCertainLevelsImpossibleOne ThingProducePromiseImmigrationIncomeWelfareMinimumResidentsWelfare StateImpossible ThingsSubsistence
Author:Milton Friedman
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“Look, for example, at the obvious, immediate, practical example of illegal Mexican immigration. Now, that Mexican immigration, over the border, is a good thing. It's a good thing for the illegal immigrants. It's a good thing for the United States. It's a good thing for the citizens of the country. But, it's only good so long as its illegal....”

LooksLongCountryStatesUnitedUnited StatesExampleCitizensGood ThingsObviousPracticalsImmigrationBordersImmigrantsIllegalMexicanIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal Immigration
Author:Milton Friedman
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“Government power must be dispersed. If government is to exercise power, better in the county than in the state, better in the state than in Washington. If I do not like what my local community does, be it in sewage disposal, or zoning, or schools, I can move to another local community, and though few may take this step, the mere possibility acts as a check. If I do not like what Washington imposes, I have few alternatives in this world of jealous nations.”

IfsWorldMayDoeI CanStatesGovernmentSchoolMovingNationsCommunityStepsPossibilityThis WorldExerciseMereChecksLocalsAlternativesJealousCountyLocal CommunitySewage
Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition
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“The Great Depression in the United States, far from being a sign of the inherent instability of the private enterprise system, is a testament to how much harm can be done by mistakes on the part of a few men when they wield vast power over the monetary system of the country.”

MenCountryStatesDoneUnitedMistakeUnited StatesHarmEnterpriseInherentTestamentMonetaryGreat DepressionInstabilityPrivate EnterpriseMonetary System
Book:Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition
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“...Only physicians are likely to be regarded as competent to judge the qualifications of potential physicians, so licensing boards in the various states...are typically composed..of physicians,...members of the AMA. The boards, or the state legislatures...give the AMA the power to influence the number of persons admitted to practice (by) lengthy training,...(and) the list of 'approved' schools and hospitals (which) is generally identical with the list issued by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the AMA.”

GivingPersonsStatesAgeSchoolDarkNumbersPracticeInfluenceJudgingMembersTrainingVariousMedicalListsBoardsHospitalsPhysiciansCouncilIdenticalCompetentDark AgesLegislatureApprovedQualificationsLengthyState LegislaturesLicensingMedical Education
Author:Milton Friedman
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