"When Milton received his Medal of Freedom in 2002, President George W. Bush said jokingly in his speech that Rose was known for being the only person to ever have won an argument against her husband. " classic, I like it.
I recommend to people new to actual free market arguments that they watch or listen to Milton to get in that direction.
But then to READ Rothbard.
Because as good as Friedman's arguments are, he still advocated govt monopoly money, govt monopoly schooling, and other contradictory elements like that, mostly in his writing.
Goodness, I didn't realize there were so many losers hot for Milton. Take an Econ class where debate is mature and elucidating. Calling me a fool does not make me any less pleased by his passing. His damage will fade
@katemccloudy Please control your emotions - it's fine to not like someone, but it's obvious you can't control yourself. YouTube is pretty anonymous, so at least you only anonymously present yourself foolishly.
What was wrong about his thoughts on inflation? He'd said, increase in supply of money caused by government monopoly ie Federal Reserve inevitably causes inflation which is what caused the housing bubble as Greenspan held interest-rates too low which expanded cheap money/credit while having FDIC made banks careless, Community Reinvestment Act forced banks to make bad loans which later failed caused the collapse of the bubble; as usual government regulations did more harm than good
Thanks Reason, I love Friedman as much as the next liberty-fan, but when is Reason going to do a similar tribute to fellow Nobel laureate and liberty lover F.A. Hayek? Didn't Friedman say many good things about his friend Dr. Hayek, doesn't Cato Inst. have a hall and a lecture named after Hayek? Is it because of his being of the Austrian school that I gather he keeps getting looked over? Was it his funny accent? Hayek did as much as Friedman to spread the word of liberty. Keep honoring worthies.
Friedman's doctrine was is only good for one thing: widening the gap between the awfully rich and the desperately poor.
Making the richest even richer, while more people get poorer and poorer, is not exactly my idea of economic success; and unfortunately this is exactly what happened in every single country Friedman had any influence; from Chile to the United States.
@MrConservative608 - What part of "diminshed US manufacturing" do you not understand? Due to deregulated commerce the middle class and lower middle class have now dropped into impoverished oblivion. With no relief in sight. Those are facts. Take a look at most household items and where they are manufactured. The only "bastardized data" comes from your own posts.
@louise12345 "impoverished oblivion" Exaggeration much? You know what else has killed manufacturing? Technology. So lets get rid of that. Instead of bulldozers and earthmovers, lets use shovels or better yet, spoons. And what is this nonsense of the wheel? How many horse and mule breeders have be put out of work by that terrible wheel? But seriously, what right does the Govt have telling people where they can and cannot buy and at what price?
@kev3d - What does heightened technological manufacturing have to do with farming out 100's of thousands of jobs to third world countries? Your arguments are foolish. If you do not understand that Friedman's "teachings" have created economic quicksand for all first world nations that embraced them, than you are delusional. Good luck at your future Mcdonalds job.
@louise12345 The two are related because on the surface, they both reduce the number of jobs, but in actuality, they increase the number of opportunities. How expensive would a a 100% domestically produced computer cost? How many poor people would be able to afford those computers?
But sure...Friedman was wrong, as are Economists Hayek, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and Jeff Miron to name a few. Clearly you know better. And bless McDonalds for giving opportunities to the young and poor.
@kev3d - So what your saying is, "the standard of living that Americans created for the past 100 years, through toil & ingenuity I wholeheartedly disperse all future benefits to the lowest bidder". YOu clearly have the illness "WalMartITIS", enjoy the savings friend because the cancer of "free trade" has it's short term pleasures, but like most recreational drugs have their share of tragic endings.
@louise12345 The standard of living that Americans have enjoyed was due, in large part to free trade. The US has had a trade deficit since before there WAS a US. It only seems like a failure now because A. previously poor nations are getting rich and B. the currently high unemployment rate due to a weak domestic economy because of government mismanagement. Look at Detroit; despite Bailouts, Unions and regulations, the US auto sector continues to falter.
@louise12345 #1. The diminished US manufacturing is due to the US government's (mainly Obama's Administration's) hostile attitude towards businesses that create manufacturing jobs in that they were and are worried about increased taxes & regulations (specifically increased costs from Obamacare which businesses have to pay for). #2. It is fallacious to assume that there are a finite amount of jobs in the world especially since this nation has always increased in population over the decades.
@louise12345 #3. You union people are the biggest racists on this planet. If a foreign worker didn't have their jobs, where do you think they would work? Do you think its better for foreign workers to go back to farming which is worse pay & worse working conditions? What do you have against poor people in other countries starting their economic development the way we did over 100 years ago? You can only see those jobs as slave labor & wages because we are in a better developed economy.
@louise12345 Forgot #4. Diminished US manufacturing is because you union people don't understand that the unions kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and then proceed to blame the dead goose for not laying the golden eggs after you kill it.
@flyermay The hundreds of Millions who have been lifted from crippling poverty due to free trade and the collapse of centrally planned economies would disagree. From India to China to the former Soviet Bloc, the rich have indeed gotten richer and the poor? They have gotten richer too. We don't see massive starvation where markets are allowed to work and where there is rule of law. Chile, it should be noted, is the most free economy in South America, meanwhile Oil rich Venezuela falters.
@louise12345 Where do you suppose those components for your computer came from? That's free trade. How is it that Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland, with low to no natural resources are rich? I'll give you a hint; it rhymes with "tree blade". Meanwhile, nations with planned economies and importation and investment restrictions like Venezuela and North Korea are poor. And yes, I am an opportunist; everyone should be allowed to take advantage of the opportunities that free trade provides.
@kev3d - Who the fuck cares where the components come from? Why don't you ask yourself, what countries invented and perfected the said technologies that are now produced cheaply in third world slave shops? I'm not talking command and control economies (i.e Soviet Russia), I AM talking about preserving the US economy via sensible regulation and tariffs. Using North Korea as an example?!! Why not fucking Pluto or Mercury?
@louise12345 Lots of countries contributed to the modern computer, if you want to be technical, it goes all the way back to ancient greece. What you are saying is "America isn't competitive, therefore the government needs the citizens to pay more for anything that might be produced in the country." And Tariffs? Why do you think Brach's Confections moved their operations to Canada and Mexico? Its because the US has expensive Sugar Tariffs, forcing the closure of US factories.
@kev3d - We're not talking the abacus here. America is selling off it's technnology to the highest bidder, not only consumer electronics, but highly classfied technology. Yes, I AM saying that we need to pay more for consumer goods. Because in the end we are investing in our own future, and not the future of some foreign owned entitiy. Free trade agreements are the result of massive lobbyist efforts which trade in the American dream for corporate profits.
@louise12345 Well once again, you are now saying that people should NOT be free to make their own choices and that those choices (along with higher prices) should be determined by Government. No thanks.
Corporate profits? Who do you think owns most stock in American companies? What is the American dream? To me it is to be FREE to pursue happiness any way one can without violating the rights of others. It is NOT a guarantee to a job as a drill press operator or circuit solderer.
@kev3d - Killing someone and robbing a bank are freedom of choice, but through regulation of laws and our own sense of right and wrong we decide not to. Akin to this, we have economic regulations, which may hamper the "free marketeer", but in the end benefit the country economically. If you cannot see that allowing Walmart, Apple, Nike and others to get away with abroad, with what would be criminal here, than you are a lost cause. Good night.
@louise12345 Clearly you ignored the part where I said "without violating the rights of others." And yes, that means trading with whomever, wherever for whatever reason that person sees fit. Your protectionist ideas (though popular amongst Union goons and politicians) have been debunked for centuries by Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat all the way to Friedman himself. And calling something "criminal" doesn't mean much. Braiding hair without a license is "criminal" in some parts of the US.
@kev3d This is simply not true. For example, in Chile, since Pinochet adopted Friedman's economic policies it is true that the overall wealth of the contry grew; but it's also true that the number of people under the line of poverty, and the number of people without access to most basic services also grew exponentially; which is also true for the US.
On the other hand: there has never been so many people in Venezuela with access to education, healthcare, and other basic services.
@flyermay Do you know what an exponential curve looks like? Please study a little math before stating such nonsense.
Further, the Heritage foundation lists Chile at 11th most free economy, while Venezuela ranks below Iran at 175. Venezuela, the 5th largest OPEC nation actually has to ration power domestically. Think about this for a moment. A nation awash in oil must RATION power. There's central planning for you.
@kev3d Well thanks, you're proving my point. The fact that poverty in Chile has been on the rise -when it's the 11th most free economy-, while it has gone down in Venezuela -when it's number 175- proves that Friedman's free market is only good to increase poverty; and yes, make the rich even richer.
And it's not that I don't know that "exponential" means; it's that you haven't got the slightest clue what's been going on in Chile since Friedman guided Pinochet.
@flyermay You still have not addressed why a nation awash in oil must ration power. Of course the press in Venezuela is rather favorable...if it isn't, Chavez has those responsible arrested.
Milty only cared about capital and the free money printing press churning by capitalists who cashed checks for a living. The worker was an insignificant, peasant slime ball to him.May he not rest in peace.
@portofhueneme You understood 0% of his teachings. He taught that capitalism has helped and continues to help the worker, especially with globalization (good for both United States and foreign workers). You didn't see 1 second of "Free to Choose", did you? All you know is what your corrupt union & Democrats tell you as they are on their last gasps of power. They lie to you and without trying to find out the truth, you attack those who know the truth.
Toronto is hot and the Pacific Northwest is having one of its coolest and wettest summers on record. The earth takes care of itself. Friedman talked a lot about freedom. If you don't like that Toronto is hot this year, you have the freedom to move.
I love Milton Friedman, but at the moment I'm loving Nick Gillespie even more. Did you guys see him take on FIVE $^^#$ing liberals on Maher's show and beat them back with common sense?
Toronto is having the hottest summer in the last 150 years. Thanks Milty for burning up the planet, and killing all the species, to make a dollar. He was no angel, just the opposite.
Friedman was a pro-rich panderer. He never met a billionaire exploiting capitalist that he wouldn't suck up to. He couldn't care less about the common person. He will be remember as a 3rd-rate economist and I don't miss him for one second. He was all about the money.
@portofhueneme Actually, he was pro-minority before it was fashionable, pro-choice in just about everything, pro-freedom of speech, religion, personal conduct, trade, peace and personal responsibility. What he was against was excessive and abusive government in all forms as well as the drug war. Of course you don't miss him, you don't know a thing about him.
You don't know Uncle Milty one bit. It was all about Capital as in Das Kapital. Milton was stuck in a tiny box of thought. He didn't care about negative externalities, because he was blind to them. If someone made a billion dollars polluting and killing everything in sight he would dance a jig to celebrate. He was the face of evil. You are the one who doesn't get it. Go kill a deer and barf up your beer. You are blind as a bat, 2. Freedom to Milty = 5 star hotel to do a line of coke.
@portofhueneme Well I don't drink and I am not a big fan of venison, but that aside you don't present much of an argument. I'm not sure if your Das Kapital comment is supposed to demonstrate your commitment to Marxism but it does not lend you any credence. What do you suppose the carbon footprint of your computer is? Oh wait, Im sure YOUR computer was carved out of soapstone by a community of eco-conscious, moneyless union members who were happy to give it to you according to your need.
@AgdrAgon999 I would say the reason for that is because there being so much more silver than gold, the use of silver for common currency was more pervasive. An individual was more likely to have silver coins than gold, if they had any at all.
Thus his use of the word "majority".
However, his monetary theory only went so far. Superficially "free market", but deep down a monopoly monetarist.
@DinnerConversation Well, there is control over confidence. And confidence is a learned trait, and its one that is easier to learn if you start from 2 rather than 1. If you want to know a little more about this, you can read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. He cites scholarly studies which you can then go and read again.
@DinnerConversation Yeah, a minority, exactly. A minority with a huge headstart. You call it small, but consider this. How much of success in life, in your estimation, is due to confidence?
We're celebrating Milton Friedman's 99th birthday tonight at Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins, CO -- It's a great charter school made possible by the liberating advocacy of Milton Friedman.
@DinnerConversation Huh? Thats not at all what it presupposes. It presupposes that children from privileged backgrounds get earlier starts in education, more exposure at a younger age, parents who can afford to spend more time with them, etc. And yes, people do start school already "educated" all the time. Some kids can read before starting school.
Friedman cooked up income tax withholding. He was a monetary central planner. stop the hero worship. He was pretty good sometimes, but he wasn't some kind of libertarian saint.
@billyjoeallen libertarianism involves lots of evolving ideologies.. deal with it. libertarianism today may even be more evolved to at least an argumentative extent than when this country was first founded, since more evidences have been gauged to support the original cause. he was an important contributor.. there is a lot of room between a 'respectable person' to a hero or a god. keep the tactful hyperbole with the liberals pls and leave it at the libertarian door. you used "hero," no1 else did
Good 'ol Milton Friedman. While I like the Austrian school sort of libertarianism, Friedman did many good things. I should make a video about one of his articles.
@sticksquash He's thanking the Christian God he believes in for a man that inspires him. Nothing awkward about that, I'm sure Friedman would be flattered...
@MrConservative608 it seems he was someone who understood that there was no fucking god, pretty astonishing for an united-statesian given how brainwashed you are, so don't insult his memory ignorant dumbass. fuck your god fuck your bible and fuck your presidents.
@stazzou How come you can't just leave it at that I thought Milton Friedman was a wonderful gift to this world? I don't want to go further than that to discuss the religious differences I have with him or you.
Milton Friedman was a brilliant economist who may have been the best economist in the past century. Lets leave it at that, shall we?
@MrConservative608 I HATE ppl leaving STUPID AS FUCK comments like yours "thank god for this or that" religion and the desire to spread this shit whatever the name you give to your delirium is the biggest insult ever made to humanity. they make me crazy. Otherwise I dunno nothing about Mr Friedman, never heard his name before and the wikipedia page didn't seem that exciting so yeah we shall leave it at that indeed.
Thank god insulting people like you are so determined to spread your belief, er, sorry, your "lack of belief," in a god. You accomplish nothing in doing so, you make yourself look like an idiot, you make everyone who disagrees with you feel like they are smarter than you.
God Bless you, sir and/or ma'am.
And in case you decide to rage against my religion, I am not spiritual and I am an atheist.
@TombaFanatic good for you :) I believe in one thing, it's called the human brain. Also you saying that I accomplish nothing in insulting blind people doesn't make it true (in fact it makes it wrong since 2 ppl answered, feeling deeply obfuscated while they couldn't be further away from being concerned). It is the opposite of their initial purpose, I get that really, but it is a fact, religions pollute the world we live in.
@MrConservative608 Let's see. The Country under Friedman Economics was.. 2007 with the Great Recession. The Country under Keynesian Economics was 1997 when we had a Budget Surplus. Only person Who Misses Friedman is Bernie Madoff.
No Way to Describe? How about Freidiots. Don't be a FREIDIOT !
the 98, to 2000 under accrual accounting, the annual reports showed surpluses of $69.2 billion in fiscal 1998, $76.9 billion in fiscal 1999, and $46 billion for fiscal year 2000. So even if the government had been using that form of accounting the deficit would have been erased for those three years.
Dear person who is either deliberately manipulative or retarded, there is a reason I told you to research "intragovernmental spending":
Fiscal Year 1993 National Debt was measured at $4.411488 trillion. Consecutive years following include 1994 $4.69 (abbreviated for text space), 1995 $4.97, 1996 5.22, 1997 5.41, 1998 5.52, 1999 5.65, 2000 5.67, and 2001 5.80 trillion. The -deficit- decreased but the -national debt- increased. Furthermore, FY 2000 had deficit of 17.91 billion,
but the last budget proposal by Clinton at the end of FY 2001 increased the deficit to $133.29 bilion.
So, during FY 1998 (and years following) the -public debt- decreased while Intragovernmental Holdings AND National Debt -increased.- Because Clinton borrowed money from intragovernmental holdings (like Social Security) to drive down public debt to scam clowns like you.
You lost before it began. Try researching instead of being a partisan hack? P.S., I'm not libertarian. :)
2) Fair enough, congress, not necessarily Clinton himself, shuffled funds (though Clinton still had oversight and influence ;))
3) Spelt out in the article are the links to the treasury that establish that the national debt increased. This has not been refuted. Even the government sources essentially concede a false projection of "decreasing" deficit.
You should learn to accept facts instead of partisanship. ;)
public schools with their no child left behind are the real failures here. Move the child a long to show advancement and fill those seats because every chair taken is money in the bank.
The only way we can have legitimacy while discussing ideas with our liberal and/or conservative friends to be honest and BALANCED in the way we discuss things. Don't fall for partisan traps and allow yourself to be pigeonholed!
As someone with no inherent interest in Economics, if a friend of mine hadn't recommended Free to Choose, which I read cover-to-cover, I would never have considered supporting Ron Paul when I first saw him on Bill Maher arguing that the FDA should be abolished.
A lot of people criticize Friedman for various views, but his relentless commitment to free markets is all that most people really know him for, and he was better at spreading that message than anyone else I'm aware of.
Word. I started with Friedman and moved to Mises and than Rothbard. Just if you wish to see the libertarian, minarchist, anarchist type progression. It is some interesting stuff that will get you thinking. If you're interested. Glad you support Ron Paul.
@NAGGERNUTZ If there was a draft, I bet we'd think twice about invading every random country in the world. Its all about incentives, right? After all, this is a Milton Friedman video.
@eirefrance - A logical thought no doubt. In this case, it's to increase the size of the military so they CAN invade every random country. History shows us that democrats love wars.
@NAGGERNUTZ Do you know what the difference is between a democrat and a Democrat? I'm asking if you think democrats (i.e. voters in a democratic society) always start wars or Democrats (members of the U.S. Democratic Party) always start wars.
@NAGGERNUTZ Well, I was talking about small d democrats. As in, wars in democracies are harder to wage. There's a claim made by some that "No two democracies have ever gone to war with each other" which isn't really true, but its close to true. As for Democrats loving war? Other than Korea and Vietnam, which was an extension of a cold war supported avidly by both parties, I'm not sure where you're getting that from. But maybe I missed something.
@NAGGERNUTZ Check out "The Wise Men" a group of non-partisan policy makers who avoided party and ideological labels and created the American foreign policy of containment for communism. Its doubtful any Republican in office at the time would have handled anything differently. I think you're just confusing the fact that Democrats were in office most of the time during the peak of this country's influence and economy, meaning they were in charge when we became the #1 world power.
@eirefrance Actually the French Republic introduced conscription in 1792 and immediately went into repeated wars of aggression against her neighbours until the fall of Napoleon in 1815. The expension of the army brought by the "levée en masse" allowed France to wage war in a massively grander scale than had ever been withnessed before. Napoleon once even boasted to Metternich that he disposed of a monthly income of over 30 thousand men he could afford to lose in war.
@C6BD True that. Humans often respond to the same incentives differently. However, wars carried out by democracies are harder than wars carried out by totalitarian states, since the people who have to fight the war have a say in government.
@eirefrance Not necessarily. Ever since Napoleon III's departure, France had a Republic, along with conscription. It hasn't stopped France from using armed force to carve out a colonial empire stretching from South America to Asia, never shying away from using torture and mass killings to achieve their aims. The war in Algeria was particularily nasty. Even to this day France sees itself a the "gendarme" of Africa. All without much meaningful opposition from the masses.
Milton Friedman also pioneered the negative income tax, free floating currencies, logical positivism in economic thought, gave arguments in favor of the withholding tax, and provided the ideological basis that motivates the thinking of the likes of Ben Bernanke.
Lew talks about the Koch reaction when he was founding the Mises Institute.
The Koch brothers back Reason and Cato. Like Friedman, very good places to get started into free market reasonings and economics, but they always stop short of the logical and practical conclusions.
This is a fantastic, balanced assessment of the man. Anyone who thinks an economist has all of the answers is as crazy as the economist. The mistake of economics was going from a social science to a quantitative one. On a social level, Freidman was fantastic. He could explain in simple terms, complex interactions.
But he failed where all economists fail. He failed because he felt he could control the economy. The free market always wins. Bet against the government and you will always win.
Milton is a great man but on one item I disagree with him. The draft, we should have kept that so as to not have a mercenary military and to force the population to remain in conflict with the government. We have a professional military and with a professional military comes the military industrial complex and internal politics that keep us forever mired in conflict.
@kmg501 The military industrial complex existed long before the draft was ended. And if there is a "mercenary" military today, it was a military of many slaves under the draft. Of course there were still "professional" soldiers during and after the draft, with some wars on both sides being unpopular (and a handful being relatively popular, like Gulf War 1) so there is no correlation between wars and the men who fight them because the men who WAGE the wars are essentially the same.
The point is to pit the population against the government. Having a professional military means that the politicians and other war mongers can get away with saying "Hey, they volunteered." Our founders warned against standing armies.
The military industrial complex can be curtailed like the rest of big government with changes in the tax code. No need for a draft. They already take my property, I don't want them able to take my liberty and my sacrifice my life as well. Interesting how far we've strayed from the Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness concept. There are other ways than the draft, much better ways.
During Vietnam we had a draft that murdered over 58,000 of our men. And in response we had a huge anti-war movement. Now we don't have a hard draft but we still have a form of conscription, conscription based on poverty and the propaganda of patriotism.
I know it is counter intuitive but I'd rather have a hard draft that the people would get outraged over. The politicians & pundits won't be able hide behind the "volunteer" word when it isn't really voluntary anyway.
I know. I heard Rangel make that argument. Not saying it isn't a valid argument. I just think giving the government any more control of is is likely to be a bad idea. We have outrage over the economy right now but that doesn't keep them from doing stupid stuff. Doubt it would be different with a draft and war.
Rangel is my congressman (don't blame me, I won't vote for him). His argument isn't same as mine. His argument is full blown conscription for service to the state. He doesn't even discriminate between military service and civil service, he just wants conscripted service given to the state. His motivations are different. The ugly truth is that he represents an African American community that honestly believes in hard socialism. Also, in part as a means to control their youth.
Milt was simply a advocate the transnational corporations, he successfully sold the con, to the ameican govenment, with the help of the Washington lobby (not to the ameican people). Today 30 million unemployed or underemployed, enormous trade deficit, and national bebt.
He was a monetarist. He definitely contributed a lot to modern economics and was certainly one of the most popular economists in history, but he still believed a basket of fiat currencies could work as long as the competed against each other. I would disagree. But hell, what do I know, I'm just some idiot commenting on a youtube video.
@eirefrance What are you talking about? Where have there been School vouchers? The State controlled monopoly on education is still in force last time I checked. Can you name a state that has school vouchers to let parents choose any school they wish?
@putittogether Hmmmm, lets see. In 5 minutes I can find DC, Milwaukee, Louisiana, Maine, Vermont, Cleveland and Utah. Can you name a blind ideology that forces people to pretend reality doesn't exist? Because I can!!!!!!!
@eirefrance So here's a challenge; count up how many kids are enrolled in school choice programs and round up to the nearest 100,000. Then divide that number by 52,000,000 the rough number of school aged children in the US. There is your percentage. Pointing out the handful of exceptions only proves the rule; the near-monopoly on education by the state is staggering. No surprise that the Teachers Unions oppose vouchers, heaven forbid they actually raise their own standards to compete.
@kev3d Yeah, because school vouchers are the only example given. In the South, over half of the public school students in 2006 needed free or reduced lunch because anyone with money put their kids in private school. And thats not counting the charter school system.
@eirefrance Out of curiousity, and I wont be confrontational: What exactly do you object to with School Choice? There are already private schools that are doing really well, so the idea is to get poorer kids into the schools.
In fact, it's very similar to food stamps in that you're giving vouchers that can only be used for a certain product.
The only consistent argument I can conceive then, is that you also don't like food stamps or just don't want people to have the choice of private schools.
@Beljora To be honest, I don't object to it. Public, universal education is the most democratic institution available to any person. Any program that allows for that to happen is fine in my book. All I have seen concerning school vouchers is that they are a method for delivering religious education or undermining the quality of public schools as a means of justifying further cuts. As we are discovering in the US today, cutting taxes for the wealthy has to be balanced with cuts to services.
@eirefrance Well, people who choose to put their kids in religious schools would be free to do so... just as rich families are already free to do so.... I don't think it's anyone's business anymore than what people choose to spend their food stamps on, to continue that analogy. Also, people could still use their vouchers on public schools when they feel it's justified, so assuming a given public school really is the best option, it wouldn't lose any funding.
@eirefrance Also, 'cutting taxes for the wealthy' had no effect on government revenue. Government revenue is still near the highest it's ever been as a percentage of GDP (Not counting WWII). Public services are being cut for the same reason private services are being cut; the economy is tanking.
@Beljora Well, that may be related to the fact that the wealthy now have a much larger % of the income and the wealth. 20% of 1billion is a lot more than 35% of 20million. Public services aren't being cut because the economy is in the tank. That may be the excuse, but the reason is more complicated than that.
@eirefrance We could argue the reasons, but I'll just assume you're right for the sake of argument... Whatever the reason, we have empirical evidence that whether in times of high taxes or low, government revenue as a percentage of GDP remains about the same. So lowering taxes can't be blamed for a decrease in tax revenue. On the other hand, it's likely that high taxation is the cause for a lower GDP.
It's not an 'excuse' that in an economic downturn, jobs would be shed, private and public.
The quality of public schools? Are you serious or just messing with us? Public schools suck. Literally, they just suck up money and deliver no better product. Funny how things in the private sector whether services or products get better and better while getting cheaper and cheaper. Schools could be that way too. As it stands it costs more and more with no better product being delivered. I want my schools like my electronics. I have an LED TV. Used to have a tube. Cost the same.
@KaelinSaint Do public schools suck because they are public schools? What is the quality of education like in the many other "first world" and "emerging" countries where public, state-run, state-funded education is the norm?
Notice what I did? I questioned your premise and then provided examples as to why I disagreed. Please have the courtesy to do the same. Not just asking questions but providing examples. Provide me some research or something, not just a bunch of questions. Thank you. See Stupid in America by John Stossel that compares us to Belgium with it's choice system. Please list these countries you speak of. What is their diversity like? How big of a population and how dispersed? Info needed.
Notice what I did? I questioned your premise and then provided examples as to why I disagreed. Please have the courtesy to do the same. Not just asking questions but providing examples. Provide me some research or something, not just a bunch of questions. Thank you. See Stupid in America by John Stossel that compares us to Belgium with it's choice system. Please list these countries you speak of. What is their diversity like? How big of a population and how dispersed? Info needed.
@KaelinSaint Well, first of all, this is Youtube not the University of Chicago, so slow down and breathe. Let me get around to watching this documentary and I'll get back to you.
Sorry man, I watched the video first, thought that was the order of things. It shouldn't matter where you are though. If you're going to make a statement or debate you need to back up your statements with evidence. Otherwise you're not providing anything to build the circle of debate like the video says. You're just throwing in bullshit opinions. You seem articulate enough to do better. It's a major pet peeve of mine, people just throwing out opinions but no evidence.
@KaelinSaint I was talking about Stupid in America, not this video. Of course I watched this video; my comment referenced something said IN this video.
The only opinion I have offered here is that school vouchers and other "choice" related schools like charter schools have not improved education and, therefore, promotion of said "choices" must not be quality related. Is that a bullshit opinion?
@NotTheLaw A quote from the Center for Education Policy: Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase student performance...Instead, it appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background."
Charter schools can expel children for any reason, including low scores, leaving public schools as schools of last resort.
We miss you Milt
meet3298 1 month ago
Milton Friedman was the smartest man alive. He was as great as Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard.
Barry62152 1 month ago
I fucking love Milton Friedman. While I do prefer Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman helped bring me into the liberty movement : )
DoctorCapitalist 3 months ago
"When Milton received his Medal of Freedom in 2002, President George W. Bush said jokingly in his speech that Rose was known for being the only person to ever have won an argument against her husband. " classic, I like it.
ItsDonaldSutherland 5 months ago 3
Sympathy for a monetarist, R.I.P. Milton Friedman.
K20ej88 6 months ago
Happy late b-day, Friedman
fountainherz 6 months ago
I recommend to people new to actual free market arguments that they watch or listen to Milton to get in that direction.
But then to READ Rothbard.
Because as good as Friedman's arguments are, he still advocated govt monopoly money, govt monopoly schooling, and other contradictory elements like that, mostly in his writing.
CurtHowland 6 months ago
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GregQzag 6 months ago
Goodness, I didn't realize there were so many losers hot for Milton. Take an Econ class where debate is mature and elucidating. Calling me a fool does not make me any less pleased by his passing. His damage will fade
katemccloudy 6 months ago
He is rotting in hell. I only regret he didn't live to see the Great Recession of 2008 and how wrong his thoughts on inflation were
katemccloudy 6 months ago
@katemccloudy Strong words, care to back that up with some evidence?
kev3d 6 months ago 2
@katemccloudy Please control your emotions - it's fine to not like someone, but it's obvious you can't control yourself. YouTube is pretty anonymous, so at least you only anonymously present yourself foolishly.
jwinter228 6 months ago
@katemccloudy
What was wrong about his thoughts on inflation? He'd said, increase in supply of money caused by government monopoly ie Federal Reserve inevitably causes inflation which is what caused the housing bubble as Greenspan held interest-rates too low which expanded cheap money/credit while having FDIC made banks careless, Community Reinvestment Act forced banks to make bad loans which later failed caused the collapse of the bubble; as usual government regulations did more harm than good
lomocan 6 months ago 2
Thanks Reason, I love Friedman as much as the next liberty-fan, but when is Reason going to do a similar tribute to fellow Nobel laureate and liberty lover F.A. Hayek? Didn't Friedman say many good things about his friend Dr. Hayek, doesn't Cato Inst. have a hall and a lecture named after Hayek? Is it because of his being of the Austrian school that I gather he keeps getting looked over? Was it his funny accent? Hayek did as much as Friedman to spread the word of liberty. Keep honoring worthies.
suitabledude 6 months ago
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Vote Ron Paul 2012!
Vote for Liberty & Freedom!
Leftovervictim1991 6 months ago
I created a playlist of Milton Friedman's 1980 PBS 10 part special "Free to Choose".
Each part is about an hour. Enjoy!
playlist?list=PLB9537F43B083D9D0
MrConservative608 6 months ago
Friedman's doctrine was is only good for one thing: widening the gap between the awfully rich and the desperately poor.
Making the richest even richer, while more people get poorer and poorer, is not exactly my idea of economic success; and unfortunately this is exactly what happened in every single country Friedman had any influence; from Chile to the United States.
flyermay 6 months ago
@flyermay You have to bastardize economic data to conclude the poor are poorer.
watch?v=vDhcqua3_W8
MrConservative608 6 months ago
@MrConservative608 - What part of "diminshed US manufacturing" do you not understand? Due to deregulated commerce the middle class and lower middle class have now dropped into impoverished oblivion. With no relief in sight. Those are facts. Take a look at most household items and where they are manufactured. The only "bastardized data" comes from your own posts.
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 "impoverished oblivion" Exaggeration much? You know what else has killed manufacturing? Technology. So lets get rid of that. Instead of bulldozers and earthmovers, lets use shovels or better yet, spoons. And what is this nonsense of the wheel? How many horse and mule breeders have be put out of work by that terrible wheel? But seriously, what right does the Govt have telling people where they can and cannot buy and at what price?
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d - What does heightened technological manufacturing have to do with farming out 100's of thousands of jobs to third world countries? Your arguments are foolish. If you do not understand that Friedman's "teachings" have created economic quicksand for all first world nations that embraced them, than you are delusional. Good luck at your future Mcdonalds job.
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 The two are related because on the surface, they both reduce the number of jobs, but in actuality, they increase the number of opportunities. How expensive would a a 100% domestically produced computer cost? How many poor people would be able to afford those computers?
But sure...Friedman was wrong, as are Economists Hayek, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and Jeff Miron to name a few. Clearly you know better. And bless McDonalds for giving opportunities to the young and poor.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d - So what your saying is, "the standard of living that Americans created for the past 100 years, through toil & ingenuity I wholeheartedly disperse all future benefits to the lowest bidder". YOu clearly have the illness "WalMartITIS", enjoy the savings friend because the cancer of "free trade" has it's short term pleasures, but like most recreational drugs have their share of tragic endings.
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 The standard of living that Americans have enjoyed was due, in large part to free trade. The US has had a trade deficit since before there WAS a US. It only seems like a failure now because A. previously poor nations are getting rich and B. the currently high unemployment rate due to a weak domestic economy because of government mismanagement. Look at Detroit; despite Bailouts, Unions and regulations, the US auto sector continues to falter.
kev3d 6 months ago
@louise12345 #1. The diminished US manufacturing is due to the US government's (mainly Obama's Administration's) hostile attitude towards businesses that create manufacturing jobs in that they were and are worried about increased taxes & regulations (specifically increased costs from Obamacare which businesses have to pay for). #2. It is fallacious to assume that there are a finite amount of jobs in the world especially since this nation has always increased in population over the decades.
MrConservative608 6 months ago
@louise12345 #3. You union people are the biggest racists on this planet. If a foreign worker didn't have their jobs, where do you think they would work? Do you think its better for foreign workers to go back to farming which is worse pay & worse working conditions? What do you have against poor people in other countries starting their economic development the way we did over 100 years ago? You can only see those jobs as slave labor & wages because we are in a better developed economy.
MrConservative608 6 months ago
@louise12345 Forgot #4. Diminished US manufacturing is because you union people don't understand that the unions kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and then proceed to blame the dead goose for not laying the golden eggs after you kill it.
MrConservative608 6 months ago
@MrConservative608 Please read my reply about that propaganda video (watch?v=vDhcqua3_W8)
flyermay 6 months ago
@flyermay The hundreds of Millions who have been lifted from crippling poverty due to free trade and the collapse of centrally planned economies would disagree. From India to China to the former Soviet Bloc, the rich have indeed gotten richer and the poor? They have gotten richer too. We don't see massive starvation where markets are allowed to work and where there is rule of law. Chile, it should be noted, is the most free economy in South America, meanwhile Oil rich Venezuela falters.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d - Free trade is currently plummeting the US into a third world economy. Who are you, some "free trade" fueled opportunist?
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 Where do you suppose those components for your computer came from? That's free trade. How is it that Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland, with low to no natural resources are rich? I'll give you a hint; it rhymes with "tree blade". Meanwhile, nations with planned economies and importation and investment restrictions like Venezuela and North Korea are poor. And yes, I am an opportunist; everyone should be allowed to take advantage of the opportunities that free trade provides.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d - Who the fuck cares where the components come from? Why don't you ask yourself, what countries invented and perfected the said technologies that are now produced cheaply in third world slave shops? I'm not talking command and control economies (i.e Soviet Russia), I AM talking about preserving the US economy via sensible regulation and tariffs. Using North Korea as an example?!! Why not fucking Pluto or Mercury?
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 Lots of countries contributed to the modern computer, if you want to be technical, it goes all the way back to ancient greece. What you are saying is "America isn't competitive, therefore the government needs the citizens to pay more for anything that might be produced in the country." And Tariffs? Why do you think Brach's Confections moved their operations to Canada and Mexico? Its because the US has expensive Sugar Tariffs, forcing the closure of US factories.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d - We're not talking the abacus here. America is selling off it's technnology to the highest bidder, not only consumer electronics, but highly classfied technology. Yes, I AM saying that we need to pay more for consumer goods. Because in the end we are investing in our own future, and not the future of some foreign owned entitiy. Free trade agreements are the result of massive lobbyist efforts which trade in the American dream for corporate profits.
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 Well once again, you are now saying that people should NOT be free to make their own choices and that those choices (along with higher prices) should be determined by Government. No thanks.
Corporate profits? Who do you think owns most stock in American companies? What is the American dream? To me it is to be FREE to pursue happiness any way one can without violating the rights of others. It is NOT a guarantee to a job as a drill press operator or circuit solderer.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d - Killing someone and robbing a bank are freedom of choice, but through regulation of laws and our own sense of right and wrong we decide not to. Akin to this, we have economic regulations, which may hamper the "free marketeer", but in the end benefit the country economically. If you cannot see that allowing Walmart, Apple, Nike and others to get away with abroad, with what would be criminal here, than you are a lost cause. Good night.
louise12345 6 months ago
@louise12345 Clearly you ignored the part where I said "without violating the rights of others." And yes, that means trading with whomever, wherever for whatever reason that person sees fit. Your protectionist ideas (though popular amongst Union goons and politicians) have been debunked for centuries by Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat all the way to Friedman himself. And calling something "criminal" doesn't mean much. Braiding hair without a license is "criminal" in some parts of the US.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d This is simply not true. For example, in Chile, since Pinochet adopted Friedman's economic policies it is true that the overall wealth of the contry grew; but it's also true that the number of people under the line of poverty, and the number of people without access to most basic services also grew exponentially; which is also true for the US.
On the other hand: there has never been so many people in Venezuela with access to education, healthcare, and other basic services.
flyermay 6 months ago
@flyermay Do you know what an exponential curve looks like? Please study a little math before stating such nonsense.
Further, the Heritage foundation lists Chile at 11th most free economy, while Venezuela ranks below Iran at 175. Venezuela, the 5th largest OPEC nation actually has to ration power domestically. Think about this for a moment. A nation awash in oil must RATION power. There's central planning for you.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d Well thanks, you're proving my point. The fact that poverty in Chile has been on the rise -when it's the 11th most free economy-, while it has gone down in Venezuela -when it's number 175- proves that Friedman's free market is only good to increase poverty; and yes, make the rich even richer.
And it's not that I don't know that "exponential" means; it's that you haven't got the slightest clue what's been going on in Chile since Friedman guided Pinochet.
flyermay 6 months ago
@flyermay You still have not addressed why a nation awash in oil must ration power. Of course the press in Venezuela is rather favorable...if it isn't, Chavez has those responsible arrested.
kev3d 6 months ago
he died in 2006 btw
capgains 6 months ago
Milty only cared about capital and the free money printing press churning by capitalists who cashed checks for a living. The worker was an insignificant, peasant slime ball to him.May he not rest in peace.
portofhueneme 6 months ago
@portofhueneme If it wasn't for Capaitalists, your precious "worker" wouldn't have a job.
OneObjectivist 6 months ago
@OneObjectivist - And without Workers, there would be no Capitalism.
louise12345 6 months ago
@portofhueneme You understood 0% of his teachings. He taught that capitalism has helped and continues to help the worker, especially with globalization (good for both United States and foreign workers). You didn't see 1 second of "Free to Choose", did you? All you know is what your corrupt union & Democrats tell you as they are on their last gasps of power. They lie to you and without trying to find out the truth, you attack those who know the truth.
MrConservative608 6 months ago
M + v = P + Y is what the quantity theory of money is all about. This explained the economy like the Newton's laws explained kinematics.
LogicalFlawDetector 7 months ago
Great communicator for freedom. I say he's the Carl Sagan of economics
truevoice08 7 months ago
Toronto is hot and the Pacific Northwest is having one of its coolest and wettest summers on record. The earth takes care of itself. Friedman talked a lot about freedom. If you don't like that Toronto is hot this year, you have the freedom to move.
bottoson 7 months ago
I love Milton Friedman, but at the moment I'm loving Nick Gillespie even more. Did you guys see him take on FIVE $^^#$ing liberals on Maher's show and beat them back with common sense?
It was awesome. Epic even.
blogegog 7 months ago 3
@blogegog Awsum, have you got the link to Gillespie's video?
Nyar88 6 months ago
@Nyar88
youtube com / watch ? v = JsJ3fmvHgyU
add a . and remove the spaces.
blogegog 6 months ago
@blogegog Thanks, could you not just have typed the URL? I'm guessing youtube doesn't allow it.
Nyar88 6 months ago
Toronto is having the hottest summer in the last 150 years. Thanks Milty for burning up the planet, and killing all the species, to make a dollar. He was no angel, just the opposite.
portofhueneme 7 months ago
@portofhueneme Yep its all that simple. You are so smart where did you go to grade school, I want to send my slaves there.
putittogether 7 months ago
@portofhueneme Hah. It's hot in Toronto? What does that mean? You have to turn the heater off?
blogegog 7 months ago
Friedman was a pro-rich panderer. He never met a billionaire exploiting capitalist that he wouldn't suck up to. He couldn't care less about the common person. He will be remember as a 3rd-rate economist and I don't miss him for one second. He was all about the money.
portofhueneme 7 months ago
@portofhueneme LOL how do capitalists magically exploit the poor? lol
BrettDunbar 7 months ago
@portofhueneme Actually, he was pro-minority before it was fashionable, pro-choice in just about everything, pro-freedom of speech, religion, personal conduct, trade, peace and personal responsibility. What he was against was excessive and abusive government in all forms as well as the drug war. Of course you don't miss him, you don't know a thing about him.
kev3d 6 months ago
@kev3d
You don't know Uncle Milty one bit. It was all about Capital as in Das Kapital. Milton was stuck in a tiny box of thought. He didn't care about negative externalities, because he was blind to them. If someone made a billion dollars polluting and killing everything in sight he would dance a jig to celebrate. He was the face of evil. You are the one who doesn't get it. Go kill a deer and barf up your beer. You are blind as a bat, 2. Freedom to Milty = 5 star hotel to do a line of coke.
portofhueneme 6 months ago
@portofhueneme Well I don't drink and I am not a big fan of venison, but that aside you don't present much of an argument. I'm not sure if your Das Kapital comment is supposed to demonstrate your commitment to Marxism but it does not lend you any credence. What do you suppose the carbon footprint of your computer is? Oh wait, Im sure YOUR computer was carved out of soapstone by a community of eco-conscious, moneyless union members who were happy to give it to you according to your need.
kev3d 6 months ago
a great man, and a great economist. i may have some slight disagreements with him but his contributions to freedom cannot be diminished.
surrealnumber 7 months ago
His "Free to Choose" series is one of my favorites, by the way :)
Happy B-day, Milton!
AgdrAgon999 7 months ago
"The major monetary metal in history is silver, not gold."
- Milton Friedman, in an interview with James U. Blanchard III for the 20th Anniversary New Orleans Investment Conference (November 7, 1993)
AgdrAgon999 7 months ago
@AgdrAgon999 I would say the reason for that is because there being so much more silver than gold, the use of silver for common currency was more pervasive. An individual was more likely to have silver coins than gold, if they had any at all.
Thus his use of the word "majority".
However, his monetary theory only went so far. Superficially "free market", but deep down a monopoly monetarist.
CurtHowland 6 months ago
Friedman ended the draft. I'm thankful for at least that.
MooseOfReason 7 months ago
@DinnerConversation Well, there is control over confidence. And confidence is a learned trait, and its one that is easier to learn if you start from 2 rather than 1. If you want to know a little more about this, you can read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. He cites scholarly studies which you can then go and read again.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@DinnerConversation Yeah, a minority, exactly. A minority with a huge headstart. You call it small, but consider this. How much of success in life, in your estimation, is due to confidence?
eirefrance 7 months ago
We're celebrating Milton Friedman's 99th birthday tonight at Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins, CO -- It's a great charter school made possible by the liberating advocacy of Milton Friedman.
LibertyCommonSchool 7 months ago 12
@LibertyCommonSchool - Happy Birthday to Friedman the elitest cunt.
louise12345 6 months ago
@DinnerConversation Huh? Thats not at all what it presupposes. It presupposes that children from privileged backgrounds get earlier starts in education, more exposure at a younger age, parents who can afford to spend more time with them, etc. And yes, people do start school already "educated" all the time. Some kids can read before starting school.
eirefrance 7 months ago
He successfully helped advance some general pro-freedom ideas, but fundamentally his economics were complete crap.
Mises & Rothbard 4 lyf
StatelessEuphoria 7 months ago 3
Friedman cooked up income tax withholding. He was a monetary central planner. stop the hero worship. He was pretty good sometimes, but he wasn't some kind of libertarian saint.
billyjoeallen 7 months ago 2
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spyletu 7 months ago
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spyletu 7 months ago
@billyjoeallen libertarianism involves lots of evolving ideologies.. deal with it. libertarianism today may even be more evolved to at least an argumentative extent than when this country was first founded, since more evidences have been gauged to support the original cause. he was an important contributor.. there is a lot of room between a 'respectable person' to a hero or a god. keep the tactful hyperbole with the liberals pls and leave it at the libertarian door. you used "hero," no1 else did
spyletu 7 months ago
@spyletu perhaps that's because the creation of income tax withholding was not heroic.
billyjoeallen 6 months ago
A true hero of reason and liberty.
freesk8 7 months ago
MV = PQ. Perhaps Milton's greatest contribution to economic science. As simple and elegant as Newton's laws.
WhoFartedInHere34 7 months ago
Good 'ol Milton Friedman. While I like the Austrian school sort of libertarianism, Friedman did many good things. I should make a video about one of his articles.
ViewpointLibertarian 7 months ago
I thank God for giving us the genius of Milton Friedman. He is missed.
MrConservative608 7 months ago 31
@MrConservative608 That's... er... kind of awkward... since he was an agnostic.
sticksquash 7 months ago
@sticksquash He's thanking the Christian God he believes in for a man that inspires him. Nothing awkward about that, I'm sure Friedman would be flattered...
polko59 7 months ago
@MrConservative608 it seems he was someone who understood that there was no fucking god, pretty astonishing for an united-statesian given how brainwashed you are, so don't insult his memory ignorant dumbass. fuck your god fuck your bible and fuck your presidents.
stazzou 6 months ago
@stazzou How come you can't just leave it at that I thought Milton Friedman was a wonderful gift to this world? I don't want to go further than that to discuss the religious differences I have with him or you.
Milton Friedman was a brilliant economist who may have been the best economist in the past century. Lets leave it at that, shall we?
MrConservative608 6 months ago
@MrConservative608 I HATE ppl leaving STUPID AS FUCK comments like yours "thank god for this or that" religion and the desire to spread this shit whatever the name you give to your delirium is the biggest insult ever made to humanity. they make me crazy. Otherwise I dunno nothing about Mr Friedman, never heard his name before and the wikipedia page didn't seem that exciting so yeah we shall leave it at that indeed.
stazzou 6 months ago
@stazzou
Thank god insulting people like you are so determined to spread your belief, er, sorry, your "lack of belief," in a god. You accomplish nothing in doing so, you make yourself look like an idiot, you make everyone who disagrees with you feel like they are smarter than you.
God Bless you, sir and/or ma'am.
And in case you decide to rage against my religion, I am not spiritual and I am an atheist.
TombaFanatic 6 months ago
@TombaFanatic good for you :) I believe in one thing, it's called the human brain. Also you saying that I accomplish nothing in insulting blind people doesn't make it true (in fact it makes it wrong since 2 ppl answered, feeling deeply obfuscated while they couldn't be further away from being concerned). It is the opposite of their initial purpose, I get that really, but it is a fact, religions pollute the world we live in.
stazzou 6 months ago
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@MrConservative608 Let's see. The Country under Friedman Economics was.. 2007 with the Great Recession. The Country under Keynesian Economics was 1997 when we had a Budget Surplus. Only person Who Misses Friedman is Bernie Madoff.
No Way to Describe? How about Freidiots. Don't be a FREIDIOT !
GregQzag 6 months ago 7
@GregQzag
There was no surplus. Research "intragovernmental spending Clinton".
Apparently you're clueless.
Also, Friedman "economics" has not been utilized by america.
fountainherz 6 months ago
@fountainherz Dear Brain Dead Libertarian:
the 98, to 2000 under accrual accounting, the annual reports showed surpluses of $69.2 billion in fiscal 1998, $76.9 billion in fiscal 1999, and $46 billion for fiscal year 2000. So even if the government had been using that form of accounting the deficit would have been erased for those three years.
Congressional Budget Office, "Historical Budget Data," undated, accessed 6 Sep 2010.
You Lose Sir. Good Day!
GregQzag 6 months ago
@GregQzag
Dear person who is either deliberately manipulative or retarded, there is a reason I told you to research "intragovernmental spending":
Fiscal Year 1993 National Debt was measured at $4.411488 trillion. Consecutive years following include 1994 $4.69 (abbreviated for text space), 1995 $4.97, 1996 5.22, 1997 5.41, 1998 5.52, 1999 5.65, 2000 5.67, and 2001 5.80 trillion. The -deficit- decreased but the -national debt- increased. Furthermore, FY 2000 had deficit of 17.91 billion,
fountainherz 6 months ago
@GregQzag
but the last budget proposal by Clinton at the end of FY 2001 increased the deficit to $133.29 bilion.
So, during FY 1998 (and years following) the -public debt- decreased while Intragovernmental Holdings AND National Debt -increased.- Because Clinton borrowed money from intragovernmental holdings (like Social Security) to drive down public debt to scam clowns like you.
You lost before it began. Try researching instead of being a partisan hack? P.S., I'm not libertarian. :)
fountainherz 6 months ago
@fountainherz Dear Blithering Idiot. ( And that Steiner Article has been previously shredded )
You are again, utterly bloody wrong. POTUS has no power or authority to shuffle funds as that misleading article claims.
2) Spelled out in black and white is the cbo gov ftpdocs 108xx doc10871 HistoricalTables pdf
Again, YOU LOSE SIR. Good DAY!
GregQzag 6 months ago
@GregQzag
Dear retard,
1) Link me to where it's been shredded.
2) Fair enough, congress, not necessarily Clinton himself, shuffled funds (though Clinton still had oversight and influence ;))
3) Spelt out in the article are the links to the treasury that establish that the national debt increased. This has not been refuted. Even the government sources essentially concede a false projection of "decreasing" deficit.
You should learn to accept facts instead of partisanship. ;)
fountainherz 6 months ago
@GregQzag
In addition to my previous post, I add with this gift.
treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm
We have a debt problem. Eradicating the deficit by increasing the debt is futile.
fountainherz 6 months ago
public schools with their no child left behind are the real failures here. Move the child a long to show advancement and fill those seats because every chair taken is money in the bank.
warfossil 7 months ago
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robertmike57 7 months ago
@robertmike57 OH YOU MUST BE A TEACHER!
mnesbitt100 7 months ago
Milton Friedman, a true American Hero.
adulby 7 months ago
The only way we can have legitimacy while discussing ideas with our liberal and/or conservative friends to be honest and BALANCED in the way we discuss things. Don't fall for partisan traps and allow yourself to be pigeonholed!
asphyxiafeeling 7 months ago
Why do people celebrate the birthdays of dead people that they don't know?
andyissemicool 7 months ago
i like every thing he did busides the draft thing we should have one
JESTER588 7 months ago
As someone with no inherent interest in Economics, if a friend of mine hadn't recommended Free to Choose, which I read cover-to-cover, I would never have considered supporting Ron Paul when I first saw him on Bill Maher arguing that the FDA should be abolished.
A lot of people criticize Friedman for various views, but his relentless commitment to free markets is all that most people really know him for, and he was better at spreading that message than anyone else I'm aware of.
AnotherUserNamedPaul 7 months ago
@AnotherUserNamedPaul
Word. I started with Friedman and moved to Mises and than Rothbard. Just if you wish to see the libertarian, minarchist, anarchist type progression. It is some interesting stuff that will get you thinking. If you're interested. Glad you support Ron Paul.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
RIP Milton and Rose.
mangoswiss 7 months ago
I'm just going to leave this here...
lewrockwell(dot)com/rothbard/rothbard43.html
BowmanMusic 7 months ago
@BowmanMusic 404'd.
aggrajag2813 7 months ago
Blast!!
Well the article is called "Milton Friedman Unraveled by Murray N. Rothbard". Google provides all.
BowmanMusic 6 months ago
Democrats want the draft restarted. Rep Charles Rangel, D - NY has already tried to introduce the bill.
NAGGERNUTZ 7 months ago
@NAGGERNUTZ If there was a draft, I bet we'd think twice about invading every random country in the world. Its all about incentives, right? After all, this is a Milton Friedman video.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance - A logical thought no doubt. In this case, it's to increase the size of the military so they CAN invade every random country. History shows us that democrats love wars.
NAGGERNUTZ 7 months ago
@NAGGERNUTZ Do you mean big D Democrats or little d democrats?
eirefrance 6 months ago
@eirefrance - Is there a difference?
NAGGERNUTZ 6 months ago
@NAGGERNUTZ Ummmmmmmmmm, yes? Were the ancient Athenians members of the Democratic Party?
eirefrance 6 months ago
@eirefrance - I don't understand. Where are you going with this?
NAGGERNUTZ 6 months ago
@NAGGERNUTZ Do you know what the difference is between a democrat and a Democrat? I'm asking if you think democrats (i.e. voters in a democratic society) always start wars or Democrats (members of the U.S. Democratic Party) always start wars.
eirefrance 6 months ago
@eirefrance - OIC... History shows us that Democrats, the party, have gotten us in more wars.
NAGGERNUTZ 6 months ago
@NAGGERNUTZ Well, I was talking about small d democrats. As in, wars in democracies are harder to wage. There's a claim made by some that "No two democracies have ever gone to war with each other" which isn't really true, but its close to true. As for Democrats loving war? Other than Korea and Vietnam, which was an extension of a cold war supported avidly by both parties, I'm not sure where you're getting that from. But maybe I missed something.
eirefrance 6 months ago
@NAGGERNUTZ Check out "The Wise Men" a group of non-partisan policy makers who avoided party and ideological labels and created the American foreign policy of containment for communism. Its doubtful any Republican in office at the time would have handled anything differently. I think you're just confusing the fact that Democrats were in office most of the time during the peak of this country's influence and economy, meaning they were in charge when we became the #1 world power.
eirefrance 6 months ago
@eirefrance Actually the French Republic introduced conscription in 1792 and immediately went into repeated wars of aggression against her neighbours until the fall of Napoleon in 1815. The expension of the army brought by the "levée en masse" allowed France to wage war in a massively grander scale than had ever been withnessed before. Napoleon once even boasted to Metternich that he disposed of a monthly income of over 30 thousand men he could afford to lose in war.
C6BD 7 months ago
@C6BD True that. Humans often respond to the same incentives differently. However, wars carried out by democracies are harder than wars carried out by totalitarian states, since the people who have to fight the war have a say in government.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance Not necessarily. Ever since Napoleon III's departure, France had a Republic, along with conscription. It hasn't stopped France from using armed force to carve out a colonial empire stretching from South America to Asia, never shying away from using torture and mass killings to achieve their aims. The war in Algeria was particularily nasty. Even to this day France sees itself a the "gendarme" of Africa. All without much meaningful opposition from the masses.
C6BD 7 months ago
@C6BD hardER is a comparative adjective.
eirefrance 6 months ago
Milton Friedman also pioneered the negative income tax, free floating currencies, logical positivism in economic thought, gave arguments in favor of the withholding tax, and provided the ideological basis that motivates the thinking of the likes of Ben Bernanke.
Worldslargestipod 7 months ago
@Worldslargestipod That is why you will see lots of videos on ReasonTV about Friedman, but not Rothbard or Mises.
lewrockwell. com/lewrockwell-show/2011/08/02/213-tom-woods-quizzes-lew-rockwell/
Lew talks about the Koch reaction when he was founding the Mises Institute.
The Koch brothers back Reason and Cato. Like Friedman, very good places to get started into free market reasonings and economics, but they always stop short of the logical and practical conclusions.
CurtHowland 6 months ago
Great vid! 94 years, that's a pretty long life. I wish had had managed to live like to 115 though. Just because.
MRSketch09 7 months ago
We miss you Uncle Milty and respect your contributions to our life today.
GOPsithlord 7 months ago
Even if he was a bit squishy I can't help but like Friedman.
evilsceptic 7 months ago
I am pretty glad I am not reading these comments and instead watching this delightful video!
SuperDoctorprofessor 7 months ago 2
This is a fantastic, balanced assessment of the man. Anyone who thinks an economist has all of the answers is as crazy as the economist. The mistake of economics was going from a social science to a quantitative one. On a social level, Freidman was fantastic. He could explain in simple terms, complex interactions.
But he failed where all economists fail. He failed because he felt he could control the economy. The free market always wins. Bet against the government and you will always win.
666sigma 7 months ago
@666sigma "But he failed where all economists fail."
Not all.
Mises. org
CurtHowland 6 months ago
Milton is a great man but on one item I disagree with him. The draft, we should have kept that so as to not have a mercenary military and to force the population to remain in conflict with the government. We have a professional military and with a professional military comes the military industrial complex and internal politics that keep us forever mired in conflict.
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kmg501 7 months ago
@kmg501 The military industrial complex existed long before the draft was ended. And if there is a "mercenary" military today, it was a military of many slaves under the draft. Of course there were still "professional" soldiers during and after the draft, with some wars on both sides being unpopular (and a handful being relatively popular, like Gulf War 1) so there is no correlation between wars and the men who fight them because the men who WAGE the wars are essentially the same.
kev3d 7 months ago
@kev3d
The point is to pit the population against the government. Having a professional military means that the politicians and other war mongers can get away with saying "Hey, they volunteered." Our founders warned against standing armies.
kmg501 7 months ago
@kmg501 "Our founders warned against standing armies."
The police are also part of the Standing Army we were warned against.
CurtHowland 6 months ago
@CurtHowland
Police would not be an issue if the federal government didn't unconstitutionally militarize them in contravention of the Posse Comitatus Act.
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kmg501 6 months ago
@kmg501
The military industrial complex can be curtailed like the rest of big government with changes in the tax code. No need for a draft. They already take my property, I don't want them able to take my liberty and my sacrifice my life as well. Interesting how far we've strayed from the Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness concept. There are other ways than the draft, much better ways.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
@KaelinSaint
During Vietnam we had a draft that murdered over 58,000 of our men. And in response we had a huge anti-war movement. Now we don't have a hard draft but we still have a form of conscription, conscription based on poverty and the propaganda of patriotism.
I know it is counter intuitive but I'd rather have a hard draft that the people would get outraged over. The politicians & pundits won't be able hide behind the "volunteer" word when it isn't really voluntary anyway.
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kmg501 7 months ago
@kmg501
I know. I heard Rangel make that argument. Not saying it isn't a valid argument. I just think giving the government any more control of is is likely to be a bad idea. We have outrage over the economy right now but that doesn't keep them from doing stupid stuff. Doubt it would be different with a draft and war.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
@KaelinSaint
Rangel is my congressman (don't blame me, I won't vote for him). His argument isn't same as mine. His argument is full blown conscription for service to the state. He doesn't even discriminate between military service and civil service, he just wants conscripted service given to the state. His motivations are different. The ugly truth is that he represents an African American community that honestly believes in hard socialism. Also, in part as a means to control their youth.
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kmg501 7 months ago
Milt was simply a advocate the transnational corporations, he successfully sold the con, to the ameican govenment, with the help of the Washington lobby (not to the ameican people). Today 30 million unemployed or underemployed, enormous trade deficit, and national bebt.
louiethegreater 7 months ago
He was a monetarist. He definitely contributed a lot to modern economics and was certainly one of the most popular economists in history, but he still believed a basket of fiat currencies could work as long as the competed against each other. I would disagree. But hell, what do I know, I'm just some idiot commenting on a youtube video.
dieyoung 7 months ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
School vouchers? Yeah, the American education system has improved so much since school vouchers were introduced.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance What are you talking about? Where have there been School vouchers? The State controlled monopoly on education is still in force last time I checked. Can you name a state that has school vouchers to let parents choose any school they wish?
putittogether 7 months ago
@putittogether Hmmmm, lets see. In 5 minutes I can find DC, Milwaukee, Louisiana, Maine, Vermont, Cleveland and Utah. Can you name a blind ideology that forces people to pretend reality doesn't exist? Because I can!!!!!!!
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance So here's a challenge; count up how many kids are enrolled in school choice programs and round up to the nearest 100,000. Then divide that number by 52,000,000 the rough number of school aged children in the US. There is your percentage. Pointing out the handful of exceptions only proves the rule; the near-monopoly on education by the state is staggering. No surprise that the Teachers Unions oppose vouchers, heaven forbid they actually raise their own standards to compete.
kev3d 7 months ago
@kev3d Yeah, because school vouchers are the only example given. In the South, over half of the public school students in 2006 needed free or reduced lunch because anyone with money put their kids in private school. And thats not counting the charter school system.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance Out of curiousity, and I wont be confrontational: What exactly do you object to with School Choice? There are already private schools that are doing really well, so the idea is to get poorer kids into the schools.
In fact, it's very similar to food stamps in that you're giving vouchers that can only be used for a certain product.
The only consistent argument I can conceive then, is that you also don't like food stamps or just don't want people to have the choice of private schools.
Beljora 7 months ago
@Beljora To be honest, I don't object to it. Public, universal education is the most democratic institution available to any person. Any program that allows for that to happen is fine in my book. All I have seen concerning school vouchers is that they are a method for delivering religious education or undermining the quality of public schools as a means of justifying further cuts. As we are discovering in the US today, cutting taxes for the wealthy has to be balanced with cuts to services.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance Well, people who choose to put their kids in religious schools would be free to do so... just as rich families are already free to do so.... I don't think it's anyone's business anymore than what people choose to spend their food stamps on, to continue that analogy. Also, people could still use their vouchers on public schools when they feel it's justified, so assuming a given public school really is the best option, it wouldn't lose any funding.
Beljora 7 months ago
@eirefrance Also, 'cutting taxes for the wealthy' had no effect on government revenue. Government revenue is still near the highest it's ever been as a percentage of GDP (Not counting WWII). Public services are being cut for the same reason private services are being cut; the economy is tanking.
Beljora 7 months ago
@Beljora Well, that may be related to the fact that the wealthy now have a much larger % of the income and the wealth. 20% of 1billion is a lot more than 35% of 20million. Public services aren't being cut because the economy is in the tank. That may be the excuse, but the reason is more complicated than that.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance We could argue the reasons, but I'll just assume you're right for the sake of argument... Whatever the reason, we have empirical evidence that whether in times of high taxes or low, government revenue as a percentage of GDP remains about the same. So lowering taxes can't be blamed for a decrease in tax revenue. On the other hand, it's likely that high taxation is the cause for a lower GDP.
It's not an 'excuse' that in an economic downturn, jobs would be shed, private and public.
Beljora 7 months ago
@eirefrance
The quality of public schools? Are you serious or just messing with us? Public schools suck. Literally, they just suck up money and deliver no better product. Funny how things in the private sector whether services or products get better and better while getting cheaper and cheaper. Schools could be that way too. As it stands it costs more and more with no better product being delivered. I want my schools like my electronics. I have an LED TV. Used to have a tube. Cost the same.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
@KaelinSaint Do public schools suck because they are public schools? What is the quality of education like in the many other "first world" and "emerging" countries where public, state-run, state-funded education is the norm?
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance
Notice what I did? I questioned your premise and then provided examples as to why I disagreed. Please have the courtesy to do the same. Not just asking questions but providing examples. Provide me some research or something, not just a bunch of questions. Thank you. See Stupid in America by John Stossel that compares us to Belgium with it's choice system. Please list these countries you speak of. What is their diversity like? How big of a population and how dispersed? Info needed.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
@eirefrance
Notice what I did? I questioned your premise and then provided examples as to why I disagreed. Please have the courtesy to do the same. Not just asking questions but providing examples. Provide me some research or something, not just a bunch of questions. Thank you. See Stupid in America by John Stossel that compares us to Belgium with it's choice system. Please list these countries you speak of. What is their diversity like? How big of a population and how dispersed? Info needed.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
@KaelinSaint Well, first of all, this is Youtube not the University of Chicago, so slow down and breathe. Let me get around to watching this documentary and I'll get back to you.
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance
Sorry man, I watched the video first, thought that was the order of things. It shouldn't matter where you are though. If you're going to make a statement or debate you need to back up your statements with evidence. Otherwise you're not providing anything to build the circle of debate like the video says. You're just throwing in bullshit opinions. You seem articulate enough to do better. It's a major pet peeve of mine, people just throwing out opinions but no evidence.
KaelinSaint 7 months ago
@KaelinSaint I was talking about Stupid in America, not this video. Of course I watched this video; my comment referenced something said IN this video.
The only opinion I have offered here is that school vouchers and other "choice" related schools like charter schools have not improved education and, therefore, promotion of said "choices" must not be quality related. Is that a bullshit opinion?
eirefrance 7 months ago
@eirefrance NAEP and SAT scores are higher in charter schools than ordinary public schools.
NotTheLaw 7 months ago
@NotTheLaw A quote from the Center for Education Policy: Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase student performance...Instead, it appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background."
Charter schools can expel children for any reason, including low scores, leaving public schools as schools of last resort.
eirefrance 7 months ago