Customer Reviews

Free To Choose: A Personal Statement

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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.

In this classic book by Milton Friedman exposes the fallacies of the socialist thought that is so widespread in our age. Friedman explains why the simplistic policies of most of today's economists and politicians often produce effects contrary to those intended.
Real free market capitalism may not produce an utopia but it constitute the best system ever created to rise the quality of life of the mass so quickly and effectively.
As Friedman explain in this book, most problems we have today were cause by the protectionism and socialistic central planning regulations of our governments, not by free market capitalism.

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.

It is interesting to think back to 1979 and reflect on what was radical and new then - namely, the frank belief that personal freedom and its corollary, unfettered capitalism, were the only ways to achieve the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

How much has changed since then: The Republican Party initiated the largest growth in government since the rise of Communism, and Deng Xiao Ping initiated the rise of the world's largest Capitalist country: Red China.

This book describes how The Depression convinced many people that Capitalism was unworkable and unfair, and how the Second World War convinced those same people (the thought leaders of our parents' generation) that government could be an effective force for good for society as a whole. ... and analyzes the problems with those perspectives, contrasted to the power of Adam Smith's invisible hand in a world populated by people free to make their own choices.

Much of what Friedman says here is current dogma. Often ignored or even flouted by "interested sophistry" but no longer particularly radical-sounding, per se.

What this book needs is its sequel because 2004 is so far from 1980 as to make the observations of that prior era something of a naive anachronism, however true and fundamental they may still be. The real question is not what is true, but how to get from where we are to something better; this is called Politics and as such, it makes one's heart sink to think that we are in its grasp ... is there nothing to look forward to but more of the same? We need a new Friedman to tell us.

"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.

If only I and Trotsky had this book back in 1917, what a world of difference it could have made. I realize now after reading Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Larry Elder's book The Ten Things You Can't Say In America that I was wrong. In that communistic and socialistic systems only contriubute to make the public poorer and worse off. Now if only we could convince all the Democrats and other Socialists of the their folly.

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!

In this book, Dr Friedman makes the case why freedom, in the economic and social sense, is the best policy. Reading this book is a life changing experience for anyone who has not had much exposure to economics; Dr Friedman, alas, is arguably the top economist of our time.

The book offers not only a critique of developments in education, trade policy, workers rights, drug policy, among other economic and social issues, but he also offers solutions. He readily recognizes the difficulties of implementing his solutions (political mainly), but nonetheless he is searching for the best non-utopian alternative.

Dr Friedman will also demystify the image that economists are wholly consumed by growth and GDP. He is guided by the rule that each person knows best what they want and should be free to pursue it, within limits (of hurting others, etc.).

This is an easy to read book, a great intro to social issues or a great alternative view of the world. I hardly think it can be construed as liberal or conservative, these labels cannot encompass the true spirit of freedom as developed in the book. If I had to classify it, this book is about the rational improvement of society by letting each one pursue their own goals (again, a maxim espoused by the founding fathers and long forgotten). Overall, anyone interested in social issues should read this book; it may not convince you, but it will make you think.

I often think of this book in the context of Nancy Reagan's simplistic 'Just Say No' campaign of the '80s. While her campaign to inculcate in children the idea that drug abuse was something best to be avoided was admirable, the implicit message she conveyed was that the discussion about drugs was as simple as saying 'no.' Now, an economist would aver that, in fact, the argument is not so simple as that because, in addition to consideration of the deleterious effects of drug abuse that play into the equation, one must also do a cost-benefit analysis of the effect of drug criminilization on society, etc., etc., etc.

At least, this is what Friedman would argue, and, to my mind, it is a stunning way in which to view our world through the dispassionate lens of economic analysis. My father recommended this book to me several years ago, having read it while he was in graduate school. Friedman (to whom neither my father nor I are related) argues, in effect, that the most important things a society can provide for its citizens is the freedom to choose--free capital markets, free choice in education, free to use drugs if you so choose, etc.

Milton Friedman is a Noble-prize winning economist and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush. Miltion Friedman poses an interesting question: what are the things we are most unsatisfied with as services or products? Most Americans are very unsatisfied with the post office and schools, for instance. And there's a reason: the post office is a government-run monopoly, which means there is no incentive for improvements, more effeciency, or even happy customers. You have to use the service, and as a result, your happiness is irrelevant to the bureacrats, mostly the postal trade union, who just want job security.

The same is true for public schools. Most parents hate their local public school. Milton Friedman talks about how schools in the beginning of our nation were nearly universal, yet most parents paid for the schooling. He asks a really good question: why are taxpayers required to spend tax dollars for everyone's education, when it is only about 5-9% of the population that would not be able to afford to educate their child. Why not ask that most parents pay for their child's education (after all, that will result in market-incentives, such as the desire for competition) and just subsidize the education for children who would not otherwise be able to attend due to the cost. As an alternative, Friedman endorses vouchers, which will allow parents to dictate which schools will succeed and fail. Most schools--public included--will have a huge incentive to improve their programs because they will be in competition with other schools.

One theory that comes up over and over again with Friedman is the notion of incentives. If there are no incentives, something will not be done. Thus, we need to have incentives in education to improve teacher quality. We need to have a negative income tax to create incentives for the poor to work rather than receive welfare payments. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in economic policies, those of a libertarian persuasion, and anyone who wants America to be stronger and mightier in economic, political, and social terms.