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Milton Friedman on Greed

The American Nobel Laureate economist speaks about the free market and greed.

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15 Comments

Current View: 15 / Show all Comments

Flynn_2006 : LVL 41: VP 4.9: said:

Flynn_2006

1 votes NegativePositive

205 days 16 hours ago...

Hayekians FTW!!!!

praise jebus : LVL 15: VP 2.4: said:

praise jebus

9 votes NegativePositive

205 days 15 hours ago...

Very nicely said.

truth-is-the-nemesis : LVL 31: VP 4: said:

truth-is-the-nemesis

12 votes NegativePositive

205 days 13 hours ago...

true that capitalism & communism don`t work but the lesser of two evils is still evil.

Where there is a system set up of drastic sepparation of the poor to the wealthy in such massive scale it begs the question, why does the system reward the wealthy and bully/punish the poor?.

This interviewer had a very valid point with this question and although it was answered honesty in his opinion, i do not agree the philosophy of things remaining the same in spite of all the equalities that surround it.

The class difference can & will always remain this way due to the fact that only the rich can afford to run for power and its not in their best interest to `change` things.

power corrupts.

Vizreel : LVL 39: VP 4.7: said:

Vizreel

Hidden (Show Comment) -10 votes

205 days 7 hours ago...

I completely agree, this is why I strongly encourage moral people to behave immoral. No one, no god or whatever, is gonna give you what you deserve, all you can do is know what you deserve and take it one way or another.
I completely abhor people who settle for little yet still remain greedy. The road to wealth is easy.
There are no wealthy and poor people, just those who have what they want and those who don`t.

Sagespeed : LVL 21: VP 3: said:

Sagespeed

3 votes NegativePositive

205 days 3 hours ago...

The interviewer looks like Phil Donohue.

diggsucks : LVL 24: VP 3.3: said:

diggsucks

Hidden (Show Comment) -9 votes

205 days 1 hour ago...

The problem is the state. Without the state, poverty would not be possible. States create poverty and rob the people. Look how much the gov`t has taken from taxpayers in order to fun this so-called War on Terror. We are being robbed and our gov`t has nothing to show up but more fearmongering.

exploder : LVL 47: VP 5: said:

exploder

8 votes NegativePositive

205 days 1 hour ago...

What is sold as "capitalism" these days, would be better described as "free slaughter for the rich".

Please tell me, why would we expect that an absolute lack of rules (completely free market), would give rise to best behaviour and maximum efficiency of the systems? Seems to me that this ASSERTION is not born out by history, neither on an individual level (where it is transparently absurd), nor on a collective one (whether those collections be gangs, companies, or governments).

We must acknowledge that there are perils in all directions, and honestly seek to identify them, and carefully regulate ourselves to avoid them. Perils with greed and immorality in anarchic markets, perils with greed and corruption in over-regulated government heavy systems, perils when the successes of some of us too far eclipse the gains of most of us, perils perils perils. Many ways for things to get out of balance and harm many people.

I cannot help but suspect that most of those who tout "free market" systems as the one and true way to success, are those who also happen to gain the most from our present complex systems, which in truth are far from anything that can be practically described by tidy economic theories.

In the end, it is idealism like Friedman`s that obscures our true need to very sensitively asess the real practical outcomes of endeavors, and adjust our behavour according to the real observed outcomes on an ongoing basis. Hopefully we will be guided by basic ideals like compassion, kindness, generosity, honest basic environmentalism, etc..

I must agree with the interviewer, regardless that he cannot explain his own point, that the disparity between rich and poor that we see flowing from our current economic systems is a sign of trouble, something going wrong and geting worse, and something that we need to honestly admit must be somehow corrected.

Those few who currently rule our world and win in money, go on spouting self serving economic twaddle and continue to forward the `progress` that still further worsens this situation. I cannot blindly cheer to the mantras of one of thier most successful excuse makers, while the achieved ends so badly go against most of the simplest humanistic goals.

redbaron13 : LVL 34: VP 4.2: said:

redbaron13

-4 votes NegativePositive

204 days 20 hours ago...

The problem is Friedman`s ideas don`t lead to a free market or to democracy. In fact in every case where Friedman`s theories have been tried whole scale, torture, authoritarianism, and a absolute monopoly has been the result. That doesn`t mean we should switch to Communism or that he doesn`t have some good points just that the belief that gov has no role in the marketplace is bunk. Governments role is to protect its citizens both from economic and violent threats that can come from abroad or domestically.

draser : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

draser

0 votes NegativePositive

204 days 17 hours ago...

What about the value of human life? Doesn`t that mean anything?

Mark333 : LVL 27: VP 3.6: said:

Mark333

9 votes NegativePositive

204 days 13 hours ago...

@redbaron:
Please cite an example so I have a clear target.

FREE MARKETS DOESN`T EQUAL ABSOLUTE LACK OF RULES.
Free markets only mean everyone is free to buy/sell whatever to whomever they want at a mutually agreed price without coercion or fraud. Milton Friedman is not an anarchist. He is for minimal government and not NO government. Governments are necessary to enforce contracts for example.

"Hopefully we will be guided by basic ideals like compassion, kindness, generosity, honest basic environmentalism, etc.."

What better way of allowing such a thing to happen than thru a free market? To qoute Milton Friedman:
"Narrow preoccupation with the economic market has led to a narrow interpretation of self-interest as myopic selfishness, as exclusive concern with immediate material rewards. Economics has been berated for allegedly drawing far-reaching conclusions from a wholly unrealistic "economic man" who is little more than a calculating machine, responding only to monetary stimuli. That is a great mistake. Self-interest is not myopic selfishness. It is whatever it is that interests the participants, whatever they value, whatever goals they pursue. The scientist seeking to advance the frontiers of his discipline, the missionary seeking to convert infidels to the true faith, the philanthropist seeking to bring comfort to the needy—all are pursuing their interests, as they see them, as they judge them by their own values."

"the disparity between rich and poor that we see flowing from our current economic systems is a sign of trouble"
The Gini Coefficient in many developing African countries is lower than the US. I.E. incomes are more equal in Africa. Tell me, are the poor in the US worse off than the African poor or even middle class? Income inequality isn`t equivalent to worse poverty. It is better to find what people can buy for their income.

"I cannot blindly cheer to the mantras of one of thier most successful excuse makers, while the achieved ends so badly go against most of the simplest humanistic goals."
Please cite concrete example so I can have a clear target.

@draser
Some people are willing to sacrifice themselves to save others. Some don`t give a damn. Regardless, it would be unethical to put a gun to the latter`s head to force them to behave like the former.

Poitington : LVL 14: VP 2.3: said:

Poitington

5 votes NegativePositive

204 days 13 hours ago...

The age old bullshitters attack strategy. Compare an existing system unfavourably with a theoretical one. Even when Communism was rampant across the globe and not one single commie nation was better off lefties would still argue the `theoretical` virtues of communism against capitalist demoracy.

The bald guy who evicerated a hairy Donnahue was right in that the capitalist way so far is the best way. Same applies though as what Churchill said about demoracy (and i`m probably gonna butcher this) `capitalism is a very imperfect system but it`s the best one inexistence so far`.

spicy_move : LVL 24: VP 3.3: said:

spicy_move

-2 votes NegativePositive

204 days 12 hours ago...

you tell em brotha

lawngnome : LVL 32: VP 4.1: said:

lawngnome

1 votes NegativePositive

204 days 11 hours ago...

Milton Friedman seems to have an understanding of whats up. the anchor man was like "Huh... let me change the subject before... AW shit, he just put me in my place"

slayzer : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

slayzer

0 votes NegativePositive

204 days 9 hours ago...

@Poitington

Yep, you butchered it. Churchill didn`t talk about capitalism, he talked about democracy.

"`Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others.` - Winston Churchill"

wobble : LVL 20: VP 2.9: said:

wobble

1 votes NegativePositive

204 days 8 hours ago...

Watch a whole interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrMQazZHDc

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