Even the so called ‘left’ – as in the Democrats in the US, the Labour Party in Britain and the Labor Party in Australia all look to ‘market-based’ solutions to problems. Should a theorist be held responsible for the consequences of their theories? If Marx is to be held responsible for Soviet Russia then Friedman is much more responsible for the state of current day America. He says the opposite, of course, but decades of the applications of his prescriptions have turned America into a grossly and increasingly unequal society. Naturally, this freedom he is so fond of generally equates to a freedom for the majority to have less while the few are given much more. It is hard to imagine anything more mean-spirited than such a person. He rails against equality as all liberals (in the traditional definition of that term) tend to. Friedman is only interested in what he refers to as freedom. The French Revolution was fought under a flag of three colours and for three causes, Liberté, égalité, fraternité – Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood. If one needed proof that much of modern economics is an exercise in ideology and self-interested appeals on behalf of the obscenely wealthy then this book provides ample evidence. This new edition includes prefaces written by Friedman for both the 19 reissues of the book, as well as a new foreword by Binyamin Appelbaum, lead economics writer for the New York Times editorial board.This book is an interesting case of modern day sophistry – where the worse argument is made to appear the better. Enduring in its eminence and esteem, it has sold nearly a million copies in English, has been translated into eighteen languages, and continues to inform economic thinking and policymaking around the world.

How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of an immensely influential economic philosophy-one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom.įirst published in 1962, Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom is one of the most significant works of economic theory ever written.

One of Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s 50 Best Books of the 20th Century One of National Review’s 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Century One of Times Literary Supplement’s 100 Most Influential Books Since the War One of TIME magazine’s All-TIME 100 Best Nonfiction Books

Friedman capitalism and freedom