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Quote by Milton Friedman

“Even the most ardent environmentalist doesn't really want to stop pollution. If he thinks about it, and doesn't just talk about it, he wants to have the right amount of pollution. We can't really afford to eliminate it - not without abandoning all the benefits of technology that we not only enjoy but on which we depend.”

Quote by Milton Friedman

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Milton Friedman

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. more

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“There is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.”

Social Responsibility Increase Profit Social Responsibility

Author:Milton Friedman

“The strongest argument for free enterprise is that it prevents anybody from having too much power. Whether that person is a government official, a trade union official, or a business executive. If forces them to put up or shut up. They either have to deliver the goods, produce something that people are willing to pay for, are willing to buy, or else they have to go into a different business.”

“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.”

Source: Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

“A society that puts equality - in the sense of equality of outcome - ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality or freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom. On the other hand, a society that puts freedom first will, as a happy by-product, end up with both greater freedom and greater equality. Freedom means diversity but also mobility. It preserves the opportunity for today's less well off to become tomorrow's rich, and in the process, enables almost everyone, from top to bottom, to enjoy a richer and fuller life.”

Firsts Wells Mean Ends Use Hands Today Opportunity Force Process Enjoy Rich Greater Achieve Products Tomorrow Diversity Bottom Preserves Outcomes Mobility Use Of Force

Author:Milton Friedman

“The long-range sloution to high unemployment is to increase the incentive for ordinary people to save, invest, work, and employ others. We make it costly for employers to employ people; we subsidize people not to go to work We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.”

People Long Taxes Ordinary Increase Range Unemployment Ordinary People Incentives Employers

Author:Milton Friedman

“If the government is to try and ban private consumption of alcohol and tobacco, it must surely ban such activities as hang-gliding, skiing, rock-climbing and so on. Where should it stop? Rugby? American Football? Ice Hockey? Insofar as the government has information not generally available about the merits or demerits of the items we ingest or the activities we engage in, let it give us the information. But let it leave us free to choose what chances we want to take with our own lives.”

“Had drugs been decriminalized, crack would never have been invented and there would today be fewer addicts... The ghettos would not be drug-and-crime-infested no-man's lands... Colombia, Bolivia and Peru would not be suffering from narco-terror, and we would not be distorting our foreign policy because of it.”

Men Has Beens Today Suffering Land Crime Policy Drug Terror Cracks Fewer Foreign Policy Addict Ghetto Colombia Peru Bolivia

Author:Milton Friedman

“Business corporations in general are not defenders of free enterprise. On the contrary, they are one of the chief sources of danger....Every businessman is in favor of freedom for everybody else, but when it comes to himself that's a different question. We have to have that tariff to protect us against competition from abroad. We have to have that special provision in the tax code. We have to have that subsidy.”

Different Special Danger Source Protect Taxes Competition Contrary Favors Chiefs Code Corporations Enterprise Businessman Provision Defenders Free Enterprise Subsidies Tariffs

Author:Milton Friedman

“I think that the Internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government.”

Thinking Government Force Roles Internet Majors Reducing Role Of Government

Author:Milton Friedman

“The one thing that’s missing, but that will soon be developed, is a reliable e-cash, a method whereby on the Internet you can transfer funds from A to B, without A knowing B or B knowing A.”

Knowing One Thing Missing Internet Method Fund Cash Transfers

Author:Milton Friedman