Free to Choose: A Personal Statement Author: Visit Amazon's Milton Friedman Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0156334607 | Format: PDF
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement Description
Review
"Excellent book….This reviewer has never read a more straightforward and simple statement of the present ills facing our society and what we as citizens in a democracy must do about them." --Chicago Sun Times
--This text refers to the
MP3 CD
edition.
About the Author
Milton Friedman is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the Paul Snowden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago. In 1976 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. He has written a number of books, including two with his wife, Rose D. Friedman---the bestselling Free to Choose and Two Lucky People: Memoirs, the latter published by the University of Chicago Press.
No Bio
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books; LATER PRINTING edition (November 26, 1990)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0156334607
- ISBN-13: 978-0156334600
- Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Being Nobel winning economist, I was not sure what to expect from this "personal statement". What a pleasant surprise and enjoyable read. The book represents the Friedman's take on the government policies of the day (1979). Not knowing that the book was written over 20 years ago a reader would swear it just rolled off the press. The fact that the problems addressed by this book are still the problems we are (or more importantly are not truly) debating today only bolsters the arguments that current government policy is failing.
As a not quite totally liberal or Libertarian (as modern socialist democrats (Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, Diane Feinstien, etc.) and moderate Republicans (Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chaffee, James Jeffords, etc.) have co-opted the liberal and moderate monikers), Friedman puts forth arguments against government intervention is many areas, but does demonstrate where government can be helpful, in limited ways, to address various market failures. The book addresses areas such as free markets, price and wage controls (which are currently causing electricity shortages in California), equality and justice, education (Friedman has been urging parental choice in public schooling since the 1950s), consumer protection, worker protection and inflation. The book presents each issue by examining how we got to the current state, what is wrong with the current policy and how he believes the policy should be changed. In various instances, he suggest both his preferred change and a watered down version (pragmatic version) that might actually be enacted in our current political morass.
A quick note to readers. One reviewer suggested that the book plagiarizes the work of Lord John Maynard Keynes. This could not be further from the truth.
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement Preview
Link
Please Wait...