Summary Of Capitalism And Freedom By Milton Friedman

Whether Milton Friedman is a liberal or conservative depends upon which definitions of ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are being used. Either term can be applied to Friedman’s political philosophy and both can be used to misjudge him. In his book, “Capitalism and Freedom”, Friedman laments the transformation of the term liberal and maintains that the rightful definition for it rests with the nineteenth century, relating to the protection of individual liberties, weak national government and support of a free market economic system. Of the nineteenth century liberal he says, “Jealous of liberty, and hence fearful of centralized power, whether in governmental or private hands, the nineteenth-century liberal favored political decentralization.”
He maintains that his views are that of nineteenth century liberalism, “It is extremely convenient to have a label for the political and economic viewpoint elaborated in this book. The rightful and proper label is liberalism.” He addresses the modern use of ‘conservatism” and recognizes that his views would now be labeled by Americans as conservative but rejects the idea of wanting to conserve the current system, “We do not wish to conserve the state interventions that have interfered so greatly with our freedom, though, of course, we do wish to conserve those that have promoted it, Moreover, in practice, the term conservatism has come to cover so wide a range of views, and views so incompatible with one another, that we shall no doubt see the growth of hyphenated designations, such as
Although he maintains that capitalism and a free market can take place in undemocratic countries, a certain degree of economic freedom is needed to achieve political freedom, “ I know of no example in time or place of a society that has been marked by a large measure of political freedom, and that has not also used something comparable to a free market to organize the bulk of economic activity.” Government monopolies and legislation dictating trade and industry prevent people from acting to the fullest potential of their productivity, thus inhibiting freedom. Capitalism, taken to its fullest potential, is objectively about individuals’ assets and willingness to adapt to the market. When trade is unburdened by government control, everyone if free to adapt as best they can, and if they do not adapt they alone are responsible for the consequences. Furthermore, under a free market individuals can control the type and quality of commodities available to them, by generating their own services or paying others. Assuming all individuals are equally able to create competition and generate demand, this system ensures representation, “Each man can vote, as it were, for the color of tie he wants and get it; he does not have to see what color the majority wants and then, if he is in the minority, submit. to generate satisfactory services for