Free to Choose

The Power of the Market – Voluntary Exchange as the Foundation of Prosperity and Freedom The central and most foundational argument in Free to Choose is that a complex and prosperous society is best organized through a system of voluntary exchange, coordinated by a free-market price system. This system, often referred to as the “invisible hand,” allows millions of individuals, each pursuing their own self-interest, to cooperate and create wealth and social order without the need for central direction or coercion. This mechanism is not only the most efficient engine for economic prosperity but is also an essential prerequisite for personal and

The Tyranny of Controls – Why Government Intervention Fails The second major argument in Free to Choose is the direct corollary to the first: if voluntary exchange through the free market is the key to prosperity and freedom, then government-imposed controls on economic activity are the primary source of economic inefficiency and a grave threat to liberty. These controls, whether they take the form of tariffs on international trade, price and wage controls, or detailed industrial regulations, are inherently tyrannical. While often enacted with noble intentions—to protect consumers, to save jobs, or to promote fairness—they invariably produce outcomes that are the opposite

The Anatomy of Crisis – The Great Depression as a Failure of Government, Not Capitalism A pivotal argument in Free to Choose is a direct and forceful challenge to the most widely accepted economic narrative of the twentieth century. The conventional story holds that the Great Depression of the 1930s was the ultimate failure of free-market capitalism, a system inherently prone to instability, speculation, and collapse. This perceived failure, in turn, provided the justification for a fundamental transformation in the role of government, ushering in the New Deal and the era of large-scale government intervention that continues to this day. The Friedmans

Cradle to Grave – The Perverse Consequences of the Welfare State The fourth major argument in Free to Choose is a comprehensive and fundamental critique of the modern welfare state. The central thesis is that the vast network of government programs designed to provide security “from cradle to grave”—from Social Security and unemployment insurance to public housing, food stamps, and medical care—has, despite its compassionate and well-intentioned origins, produced results that are the opposite of what was intended. Far from being an effective and humane solution to poverty and hardship, the welfare state has become a bureaucratic behemoth that is inefficient, ruinously

Created Equal – The Conflict Between Equality of Opportunity and Equality of Outcome The fifth major argument in Free to Choose is a profound philosophical and practical exploration of the concept of “equality.” The Friedmans contend that the word “equality,” as used in political and social discourse, has come to have two fundamentally different and conflicting meanings. The failure to distinguish between these two meanings has been a primary source of intellectual confusion and has led to government policies that, in the name of promoting equality, have severely undermined individual liberty. The two competing concepts are Equality of Opportunity and Equality of Outcome. The Friedmans

What’s Wrong with Our Schools? – The Failure of Government Monopoly in Education The sixth major argument in Free to Choose is a powerful and provocative critique of the American public school system. The Friedmans argue that elementary and secondary education in the United States, particularly in inner cities, is in a state of crisis. Despite skyrocketing costs and a vast professional bureaucracy, the quality of schooling has been declining precipitously. Students are failing to master basic skills, and schools have become sources of social conflict and even physical danger rather than centers of learning and assimilation. The root cause of this

Who Protects the Consumer? – The Failure of Government Regulation The seventh major argument in Free to Choose is a direct assault on the modern consumer protection movement and the vast web of government regulatory agencies it has spawned. The Friedmans argue that this movement, while cloaked in the appealing rhetoric of protecting the public from unsafe products and corporate greed, has in practice become a major source of economic harm. Government regulation, they contend, is a cure that is far worse than the disease. The central thesis is that the free market itself is the most effective and efficient consumer protection

Who Protects the Worker? – The Myth of the Pro-Labor Union The eighth major argument in Free to Choose challenges the widely held belief that labor unions and government intervention have been the primary forces behind the dramatic improvement in the economic condition of the American worker. The Friedmans argue that this narrative is a myth. The true source of rising wages and better working conditions, they contend, has been the enormous increase in productivity driven by capital investment and technological innovation within a competitive free-market system. Far from being the worker’s universal protector, labor unions are, in this view, a form

The Cure for Inflation – Inflation as a Monetary Disease The ninth major argument in Free to Choose is a direct and uncompromising diagnosis of the causes and cure of inflation. The Friedmans argue that inflation is not a complex, multifaceted problem with a dozen different causes, as politicians and commentators often suggest. It is, in their famous formulation, “always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Substantial, sustained inflation has one and only one cause: a rate of growth in the quantity of money that is more rapid than the rate of growth in the output of goods and services. Understanding this simple but profound

The Tide Is Turning – Reclaiming Freedom Through Constitutional Limits The final and culminating argument of Free to Choose is both a hopeful diagnosis of the present and a radical prescription for the future. The Friedmans contend that the intellectual and popular tide that has for fifty years favored ever-bigger government—the philosophy of the New Deal and the welfare state—is finally turning. A widespread and growing disillusionment with the failures of government has created a historic opportunity to change course. However, this change will not happen on its own. The political system as it is currently structured contains a fundamental, self-perpetuating bias