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Summary: Economic Freedom
Review: "Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom". That quote from Milton and Rose Friedman is the essential reason why "Free To Choose" should be required reading for all Americans in high school! This book makes a powerful and persuasive argument in favor of a free market economy. Written in a very lucid style "Free To Choose" makes the usually dry subject of economics easily understandable and a pleasure to read. The "Power Of The Market" chapter shows how free markets work and why they are essential for human freedom. "Tyranny Of Control" chapter explains why trade restrictions and subsidies backfire. The "Freedom And Prosperity" chapter examines what the dramatic experience in Eastern Europe reveals about bureaucrats and markets. The "Created Equal" chapter shows how markets promote justice. Simply said, this book tackles economic issues that are as timely today as they were when the Friedman's wrote about them in 1979. As a retired Army officer and student of political philosophy, I found "Free To Choose" a great book for anyone who wants to understand basic economic theory.
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Summary: A Clear and Reasoned Defense of Liberty
Review: "Free to Choose" (1980) is a great companion to Friedman's ten hour video presentation by the same name that appeared on PBS in the early eighties to rave reviews and some of the highest ratings in PBS history. The video series was extremely well done and taken right from this book. Friedman explains how and why markets work, why minimum wage statutes hurt instead of help unskilled labor (they price entry level or "training positions" out of the market) and why the Great Depression happened (protectionist tariffs like Smoot-Hawley devastating trade between nations was the primary reason). Like Hayek and von Mises before him, Friedman explodes the Keynesian mythology that government spending is actually good for the economy. Moreover, this book is written for the layman. You don't need a PhD in economics or a Nobel Prize (both of which Professor Friedman has) to understand this work. It is clear, concise and cogently written. If you want to understand why the market is ineluctable, this is a must read...and if you get the chance, I highly recommend the companion video series - some of the best work done on explaining why the free market works and planned/controlled economies fail. It as timely today (despite the dated references) because the free market still works (it always will) and command/controlled economies always fail...this book tells why.
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Summary: Discredited by who?
Review: "The use of quantity of money as a target has not been a success. I'm not sure that I would as of today push it as hard as I once did."
Milton Friedman, Financial Times (UK) June 2003
There you are, the ideas of this book have been repudiated by the man himself. What more evidence do you need to show they are wrong?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent-A must read
Review: ?Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom?. That quote from Milton and Rose Friedman is the essential reason why ?Free To Choose? should be required reading for all Americans in high school! This book makes a powerful and persuasive argument in favor of a free market economy. Written in a very lucid style ?Free To Choose? makes the usually dry subject of economics easily understandable and a pleasure to read. The ?Power Of The Market? chapter shows how free markets work and why they are essential for human freedom. ?Tyranny Of Control? chapter explains why trade restrictions and subsidies backfire. The ?Freedom And Prosperity? chapter examines what the dramatic experience in Eastern Europe reveals about bureaucrats and markets. The ?Created Equal? chapter shows how markets promote justice. Simply said, this book tackles economic issues that are as timely today as they were when the Friedman?s wrote about them in 1979.
As a retired Army officer and student of political philosophy, I found ?Free To Choose? a great book for anyone who wants to understand basic economic theory.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent-A must read
Review: An absolutely wonderful book. It should be required reading in all schools. If you're looking for something to upset the socialists and communists in your life, give them this book.
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Summary: The most life changing book I have ever read
Review: As an assignment in his high school honors English class, my son recently asked me to name a book that had an impact on my life. My answer was "Free to Choose" by Milton & Rose Friedman. I grew up with fairly liberal views in a Democrat household. More than anything else, reading this book in the early 1980s changed my perceptions of reality. This book is most responsible for changing me into a conservative. Although I took four economics courses in college (and got high grades in each) and was a political science major, my views were never substantially budged until I read this great book. It is written very clearly; you need not have an economics background to understand it. The arguments are clear and eloquent. Friedman demonstrates why the free market works best for the economy but more importantly, he demonstrates why the free market preserves individual dignity. Beyond mere economics, the free market is the most moral system. In so many areas, if you really think about it, choices are the business of the individual, not the government. When the government overtaxes us, it is not only bad for the economy, it is bad morally. Overtaxation enables the government to make certain choices and removes that decisionmaking from the individual. I think school choice is an example of this. My son's teacher assigned him to read this book. Happily, he will be exposed to the lucid arguments for few governmental controls and greater choice among individuals. I highly recommend this book which had so great an impact on my life.
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Summary: The reality of the marketplace
Review: As we head into the next millennium, it becomes increasingly clear the progress we've enjoyed is mainly attributable to the freedom of the marketplace. The Friedman's provide an incredibly readable and understandable defense of the marketplace. A believer in the free market will find this book a refreshing review of reality. However, uninitiated neophytes, who still cling to government solutions, will likely have to struggle to accept this book's seemingly contrarian positions. The effort is well worth it. When written, this book challenged conventional wisdom - today many of its propositions are conventional wisdom. How far we've come - thank you Milton and Rose Friedman.
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Summary: Surprisingly Current and Definitely On Point!
Review: 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. Friedman is a monetarist more in the vain derived from classical economics as presented by Adam Smith and used as a basis by the American Founders, especially Thomas Jefferson. The failed policies of the newer Keynesian economics (demand side economics) are at the heart of what Friedman is railing against: Government control. Also Monetarist are distinguished from the supply side theories of Robert Mundel and Art Laffer. In fact, the only Keynes quote I can recall from the book was used to demonstrated that even someone as wrong as Keynes knew that monetary inflation (printing too much money) was one of the worst mistakes a government can make. "There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."
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Summary: Everyone says they love freedom but...
Review: few actually define their terms. It is obvious that most of the people who speak out against books like this one have never read anything from an individualist, classical liberal or otherwise pro-market point of view. There is nothing noble about thinking that the government must do everything for everyone (which also presupposes that everyone must do as they are told by the government). If you have only heard the nonsensical leftist view of "capitalism" this is a book for you. WARNING: It will challenge you to actually think about the subject, not just have a knee-jerk reaction! One previous review here quoted the following from Milton Friedman, in the Financial Times (UK) June 2003: "The use of quantity of money as a target has not been a success. I'm not sure that I would as of today push it as hard as I once did." From these two sentences the reviewer attempted to conclude: "There you are, the ideas of this book have been repudiated by the man himself. What more evidence do you need to show they are wrong?" This is typical of the low level of thought that is used to criticize works like this. A slight change in opinion about a particular issue in NO way constitutes a "repudiation" of a lifetime's work. Just read it for yourself and see what you have been missing!
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Summary: A brilliant vision of free markets, as relevant as ever
Review: Following on from his earlier classic, Capitalism and Freedom, Nobel-prizing winning economist and champion of free markets, Milton Friedman (with Rose Friedman) wrote this brilliant popular yet profound book on real economics. In a time when people are more prone to point the finger at corporations and plead the government to "fix things", Friedman's superb explication of the benefits of truly free markets (which does not include political bribes from Enron) deserves a revisit. Friedman takes on many mistaken ideas about free markets and the need for regulation. Advocates of intervention typically compare an imperfect free market (often a market only partly free but distorted by little-known interventions) to a perfect governmental solution. However, regulators are human too, and lack the disciplining forces of the market. Friedman's penetrating yet immensely readable analysis of a range of issues related to free markets and regulations remains as timely and relevant as ever.
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