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Capitalism and Freedom | 
 enlarge | Author: Milton Friedman
Publisher: Chicago University Press
Category: Book
List Price: £9.00
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 5140
Format: Special Edition
Media: Paperback
Edition: 40th Anniversary edition
Pages: 230
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0226264211
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.122
EAN: 9780226264219
ASIN: 0226264211
Publication Date: December 17, 2002
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Correlating economic freedom with political freedom, as only Friedman could have! September 21, 2008
Gaurav Sharma (London, UK)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book, printed in various formats and languages, is some indication of the fact that Milton Friedman's arguments have not lost currency in the 21st century, even though many people hotly contest their rights and wrongs. The old master of economics hardly wastes time in triggering a debate by stating in the very first chapter: "History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition."
Capitalism and Freedom has been derided, criticised and lauded in equal measure and for Friedmanites it remains the bible. Love him or hate him, the author himself was never one to shy away from controversy. In this book he has pened his thoughts on issues such as the control of money, fiscal policy, role of government in educating the masses, distribution of income, social welfare measures and alleviation of poverty, among others.
Some of his one-liners and thoughts here are hugely engaging. Despite being vehemently opposed to Government intervention in free market economies, he writes that "the existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both as a forum for determining the rule of the game and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on."
The book is also packed with what some might interpret as below the belt remarks, if not properly contextualised. For instance, he writes, "With respect to teachers' salaries .... Poor teachers are grossly overpaid and good teachers grossly underpaid. Salary schedules tend to be uniform and determined far more by seniority." (Chapter 6: Role of Education in Government).
Overall, Friedman has made a case for what he construed as competitive and constructive capitalism and I immensely enjoyed reading the Nobel laureate's thoughts. The longevity of his chain of thought is perhaps what makes this book a valuable reference point. That aside, it has been written is an easy to read format which still fans its popularity over forty years after the first edition went to press.
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - Incompatible Ideals? July 8, 2008
Mr. Nicholas J Robertson (Kent, UK)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I became vaguely aware of Milton Friedman in the 1980s, when he was often referred to as the favourite economic guru of Thatcher and Reagan, the founder of "monetarism" as a new school of economics. He was disliked by the left, and there were dark mutterings about his involvement with some of the less pleasant South American regimes of the period.
More recently I was referred to some excellent video clips of Milton Friedman on YouTube, and became interested in how his views fitted into economic thinking as a whole. I also became aware of economic libertarianism, expounded by such organisations as The Cato Institute (publishers of some of the sceptical volumes on man-made global warming theory, but with a much wider range of interests than that) and The Von Mises Institute, that seems to have quite an extreme view as to how limited the role of the state should be. Private justice, anyone?
Capital and Freedom was Friedman's seminal popular work, published in 1962 and based on a series of lectures that Friedman had delivered in the mid to late 1950s. Other popular works include Free to Choose, written jointly with his wife and published in 1980. He doubtless wrote scores of more technical papers in between. Friedman's economic hypothesis is that free market capitalism is the most effective mechanism for organising economic activity and growth, and that it thrives best when the government intervenes in it as little as possible. This economic hypothesis is allied to a strong personal conviction for individual liberty, that men should as far as possible be left to do as they choose so long as their actions to not have injurious effects on others - a philosophy stated emphatically by the founding fathers of the United States.
Milton Friedman argues his case clearly and effectively, and most of it is as apposite today as it was in 1955. Often it is only when he refers to numbers of dollars that one remembers that this book is nearly 50 years old - there always seems to be one or two noughts missing from the end of average salaries. There is quite a lot of historical detail - he devotes a chapter to the Great Depression, and his hypothesis that it was caused not by a failure of the market but by incompetent government intervention. Friedman believed that the market would have suffered less badly, and recovered more quickly, if the government had left well alone. As the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England intervene to deal with the current "credit crunch" banking crisis we have to hope that they will get it right - Friedman seemed to believe that by concentrating the power - and the responsibility - for managing the market even into highly intelligent and well-intentioned hands, you created the conditions for a major upset that the market, left to its own devices, would have avoided by the separate actions of thousands of individual participants acting in their own interests. We shall see!
The problem with Friedman's brand of economic liberalism (and he deliberately stuck to the word "liberal" in an attempt to win it back from left of centre state-interventionists - later he gave up and accepted the description "libertarian") - and with the Thatcherism and Reaganomics that it spawned - was that it can seem harsh and uncaring. Friedman argues passionately against the public provisions of housing, minimum wages, agricultural support, state provided old age pensions and much compulsory attempts to redistribute wealth. He does so on the basis that they interfere with individuals' freedom, concentrate power in government (which often operates inefficiently, and that most such schemes are ultimately counterproductive. He does also argue against the abuse of power by big corporations, through cartels and government lobbying, and expresses concern that the tax laws that allow corporations' retained profit to suffer a lower rate of taxation than income a disadvantages small companies against big ones, and that this, even in the early 1960s, had artificially supported the development of massive corporations. Friedman was, it seems, a small company man, a believer in enterprise on a human scale.
Friedman believed above all in Liberty. His belief in equality - egalitarianism - was more qualified. He believed in equality of rights under the law and of opportunity, but not that the state should attempt to achieve "equality of outcome" - i.e. equality of material wealth. That should be left to individuals to resolve through interaction with others and in accordance with their talents and inclinations. Equality of opportunity, of course, is easily said, and not an issue that Friedman resolves. For example, in arguing for a limited role for government in education, (though a much greater one that some present day libertarians might argue) opportunity for a high quality education would at the least be much easier for those born of rich parents than poor - one point at which I find myself unconvinced by him. In short, though, Friedman thought that men should be free to be unequal.
Whether or not you subscribe to Friedman's ideas, this book represented a major reassertion of the principles of classic, free market economics in the face of progressively more state-directed economies not just in the Eastern-bloc but in the US and Western Europe too. That school of thought had been dominated by John Maynard Keynes, and the latter's "General Theory" shall be my next project. This is an excellent, thought provoking and easily absorbed book.
Outstanding October 16, 2005
Geoffrey (London, Middlesex United Kingdom)
9 out of 16 found this review helpful
Friedman is a very intuative economist, of this there can be no doubt. However, his correct intuition, in my opinion, stretches no further than economics. His chapter on political freedom for instance, has many holes in it, and although he raises some very thought-provoking ideas, in the end I felt it impossible not to disagree on many counts. This said, I would strongly advise this book to anyone, beginner or advanced; it's simple style that presents challenging ideas will suit almost all readers.
 Excellent. A classic relevant today. May 29, 2005
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
It is surprising how relevant this book is to the present state of affairs having been written originally in the 60s.Friedman goes through the issues of capitalism, freedom and related issues on an easy to understand manner; with a few exceptions where he gets a bit too technical for the general public (e.g. monetary policies). Nevertheless a very enlightening text by the Noble price. A must read for anyone interested in liberalism, economy and politics.
Highly Recommended! June 14, 2004
Rolf Dobelli (Luzern Switzerland)
22 out of 30 found this review helpful
This is a new edition of Milton Friedman's classic 1962 capitalist manifesto. As such, it was ignored, spurned and hated for decades by the intellectual, post-Keynesian establishment. In the 60s, Friedman once found himself debating a liberal who attacked him by simply reciting Friedman's views of the proper role of government. This was working rather well with the audience of college students until he quoted Friedman's opposition to the military draft. Friedman suddenly found himself awash in the unexpected cheers of students. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of his career. Friedman won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, and his ideas gained some degree of mainstream acceptance in the Reagan years - although many of his thoughts remain controversial. To the extent that Friedman debunks myths about the Great Depression that are widely accepted as fact, perhaps he has a point about the semi-privatization of education. We strongly recommend this volume to those who seek a deeper understanding of government's role in a free-market economy.
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