Milton Friedman
Champion of free markets and monetary policy
Most quoted
"The great virtue of a free market system is that it does not care what color people are; it does not care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy. It is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another."
— from Speech, 1979
"The long-range solution [to high unemployment] is to increase the incentive for ordinary people to save, invest, work, and employ others. We make it costly for employers to employ people, and we subsidize people not to go to work. We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork."
— from Book, 1980
"The government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government tries to do more than this, it creates problems."
— from Interview/Speech
All quotes by Milton Friedman (290)
The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests.
The only way to have a healthy economy is to have a free market.
The invisible hand of the market will always be more efficient than the visible hand of government.
The great merit of the market is that it is an impersonal mechanism.
The free market is the only mechanism that has ever been discovered for achieving a high degree of economic efficiency.
The government's role is to protect our freedom, not to run our lives.
The only way to get rid of a bad law is to repeal it.
The only way to get rid of a bad program is to stop funding it.
The only way to get rid of a bad policy is to change it.
The only way to get rid of a bad idea is to expose it to the light of day.
The only way to get rid of a bad system is to replace it with a better one.
The only way to get rid of a bad government is to vote it out.
The only way to get rid of a bad politician is to vote him out.
The only way to get rid of a bad idea is to argue against it.
The only way to get rid of a bad policy is to demonstrate its failure.
The only way to get rid of a bad law is to show that it is unjust.
The only way to get rid of a bad system is to show that it is inefficient.
The only way to get rid of a bad idea is to show that it is illogical.
The only way to get rid of a bad policy is to show that it is counterproductive.
The only way to get rid of a bad law is to show that it is unconstitutional.
Contemporaries of Milton Friedman
Other Economicss born within 50 years of Milton Friedman (1912–2006).