Milton Friedman On Charlie Rose (Part One)

[BigKahunaz888]

Unless USA goes to WAR with CHINA, there is NO risk in CHINA. As far as selling /dumping , they can buy GOLD/Swiss francs, or commodities: OIL speculation, steel. Of course there is a great possibility of a CHINA USA trade War

[BigKahunaz888]

Unlike Alan Greenspan, this gentleman lacks the humility and wisdom to admit his incorrect vision/assessment. I was moved by Robert McNamara's swallowing of hubris and admission of folly in "In Retrospect". What a shame that this noble prize winner at hiso end years, not to admit the obvious....lack of the Keynes over sight econ. and specically, lack of Clinton years tax policy, which was not much different, if at all, than G.H.W Bush I

[BigKahunaz888]

I remember Alan Greenspan, and although I do not agree with his economics, like Robert McNamarah on Defense matters, he admitted, swallowed his hubris, and admtted the short sightedness. This sense of humility eptomizes true wisdom. Unfortunately, unlike Alan Greenspan, Friedman lacks this virtue.

[JoshMan522]

Friedman was such a precious little priss. He thought his shit didn't stink. He had all kinds of cerebral theories which were excuses for greed and ruthlessness, smokescreens of good ideas to help people but his agenda got in the way of socialism.

[RoboSlater]

He spoke like he could see the future: The problem is the government SPENDING. Now that Friedman is gone, we have the brilliant Thomas Sowell and Walter E. Williams, balanced by the incompetent leftwing nutjob Paul Krugman.

[edsonusa75]

the best out there right now is Peter Schiff.

[CosmicFork]

@wowzinger, I've got more important things to do, than argue economic theory with some 20 year old kid, who hasn't finished his first Macroeconomics Course at the Community College level yet, especially one who can't spell... But the video shows clearly that Friedman missed it big in forecasting the horrible economic crisis that is still plaguing us to this day. This is a STRUCTURAL PROBLEM in our economy, and a structural problem requires a structural solution!

[CosmicFork]

Here's Milton Friedman, before the current economic disaster, (which is the worst recession since The Great Depression) saying that; "The stability of the economy is greater than it has ever been in our history. We really are in remarkably good shape."

Do the Libertarian Loonies, that post these Milton Friedman videos' really believe his rhetoric? Talk about, "Don't confuse me with the facts... my mind's made up!"

[ffmarkm]

@CosmicFork I accept his words ring hollow but I don't recall the armies of mainstream economists - Keynesian of some form almost to a fault - forecasting the crisis that reared its head in 2008 anymore than Friedman.

[Mishkafofer]

@CosmicFork Friedman died in 2006 so its a bit stretch. Also Friedman was completely against government assistance for failing business and for dollar printing. Both were used greatly by Bush and then overwhelmingly by Obama. So in conclusion your analysis is biased if not wrong.

[Gold3nStat3KiD]

Once again Milton Friedman is a genius. people tend misinterpret what his saying and not see it in a sense of what its really about.

[mastercloud977]

This interview was not a stain on his legacy. Let's look at the facts. The economy was doing very well and inflation had been very small. Milton was 93 years old, I doubt he was that up to date on everything that was happening in the economy. In addition, the mortgage failure and thus bank failures isn't exactly predictable. You can predict every change. If nuclear bombs destroyed every city in america that would destroy the economy as well. So looking at the facts, Milton analysis was not wrong

[KanchoKomancho]

He actually believes in what he's saying

[tjohn1986]

I don't know why idiots here are calling Friedman wrong, the Japanese still aren't selling U.S bonds but instead inflating their own yen. Friedman is spot on here, as always

[PetrusAvis]

Imagine what he would have said if had been able to live just a few years longer.

[angpetru]

Milton was actually correct. He made just one huge blunder. He never thought washington or the FED reserve were crazy enough to monetize the debt. He thought they would be smart enough to, as it were, let the companies that were in trouble fail. After he died they came out with the BS about 'too big to fail'. I'm sure that even if he had survived he would have changed his position in this interview if they started saying 'too big to fail' back then.

[triviumecj]

you want economic reform make vouchers available. its a simple yet remarkably efficient method to improve our education system. i urge everyone to look up milton friedman's voucher plan.

[acidhead43]

Milton Friedman says @ 7:40 that the only thing that would cause an economic crisis is if another foreign country held too much american debt and america was forced to monetize its debt by "printing money" thus creating inflation.....

GEEE look what happened!

Milton was correct.

[rmccay88]

If I was blind folded and a voice changer was used on his voice, Milton Friedman is one of the last people I would have guessed who said the things he said in this interview. Soon as he phrased Greenspan, I fell out of my chair.

[Calabrio76]

...we have begun to engage in inflation.....



[wikichris]

Friedman forgot his roots in this interview. Luckily others like Peter Schiff hadn't.

[MrWakethesheeple]

Here we see a real divergence between Milton Friedman's views and libertarians who probably wish this video was never aired. Thanks for uploading.

[222morganc]

Obviously made before the politically risky current administration of 2010.

[pdynamics1]

I wonder what Milton would say about Greece

[residentzombie]

Not everyone saw the problems of sub-prime with too low interest rates for too long. He was in his 90s at this time to his defense. 93 is a hard age to live although he looks like he mostly has it together.

[LUEDisgruntled27]

Its really too bad he didn't live 5 more years.

[novola1972]

HA HA HA !!!

What a moron.

US is at the TOP of its performance ??????

The global crisis , which is almost as bad as the Depression is just around the corner and he tells us how great our economy is doing ( fed by subprime scam).

Gee , funnier than Seinfield !!!!!

[imstillalive0331]

not particularly. he only praised his management of inflation, which did actually level off a bit in the late '90s. things like adjustable rate mortgages and other fed regulatory moves. inflation management is supposed to be a government responsibility, but they gave over to a private bank which generally profits from fractional lending practices. but while the fed was holding back, the clinton admin passed lending laws that made it twice as easy to lend out fiat money

[ManyStrongPoints]

communism and capitalism are just flip sides of the same jewish-owned coin which Hitler fully understood. Hitler liked "industrial capitalism" but opposed "interest capitalism" so that threatened the jews who had funded the British, USSR and USA empires. So all of the jews conspired to instigate WW2.

"Now Germany is against the power of evil incarnated in the Anglo-Saxon/Soviet coalition managed by the Jews." - Luis Blanco telegram to Francisco Franco right after USA teamed with the USSR

[imstillalive0331]

i see people like you all over these comment sections on economic videos. you spot things like 'jews started ww2' and 'jews took out the wtc towers and the pentagon', but YOU NEVER SHOW EVIDENCE. GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE YOU.

[ManyStrongPoints]

the jews in 1927 America were 4.2 million while by 1939 the number of jews in America had exploded to 12.1 million. The jews waited patiently to instigate WW2 until 1939 when only about 2.2 million of the jews were still residing inside central europe. Jewish wealth created the British, USSR and USA empires which pre-formed both of world war alliances. The WW2 holocaust fraud was implemented to camouflage historical truth regarding the jews such as the 285 years that the africans were enslaved.

[rudyrodnase]

Milton Friedman was a Monetarist/Chicago School.

Peter Schiff is an Austrian (look up "Peter Schiff was right" on YouTube)..

[Nintendomanwill]

When Friedman says the debt in that era of the noughties housing bubble wasn't a problem insofar as it wasn't caused by government spending, he ignored the fact that private consumption was too high because of govt: fraudulently low interest rates causing greater consumption with ever less loanable funds: malinvestment thru inflation

Rothbard was right, Friedman is BAD on money because he seems to ignore Hayek: fraudulently low interest rates=businesscycle. Though MF was great on everything else

[Rjackman84]

Sounds completely different now than he did before the 90's. WTF?

[tonybeir]

motherfucker 93! and giving interviews? you have got to be shitting me. how does a guy live that long and that lucid.

[rebusd]

piracetam by the bucketload... plus the blood of a young child, presumably sold by his parents to make the monthly interest on their Citifinancial account.... :)

[nexus411]

really? a stain on his legacy? did u not listen to his caveat? if we engage in inflation. when we print too much money. dude he was right. he believed that the FED would behave in accordance to their mandate not politically. however, government corrupted the institution. how can u say he was wrong? that one statement is so incredibly eye opening cuz THATS WHATS HAPPENING NOW!! PRINT TOO MUCH MONEY AND NOW FOREIGN COUNTRIES FEEL THEY ARE HOLDING TOO MANY DOLLARS! man was prophetic in his words.

[nickdnc2003]

@themagnus187 - I agree with you. Not only has inflation been rampant and will ramp up even further in the coming years, but it has been on a torrid pace since the Greenspan term.

I would have thought that Mr. Friedman would have been partial to the Volcker policy, instead of the new monetary policy which is run the printing press and purposefully skew inflation indicators like the CPI (gov't indicator) and suppress gold in order to hide dishonest inflation and keep interest rates very low (0!)

[nickdnc2003]

I, too, love taking in everything the late Mr Friedman had to say, but some of what he talks about he here is baffling me.

The economy is in the best state it has ever been in? But that was only because of a way too loose monetary policy, and the keynesian idea of spending money to save the recessions for a later administration. It wasn't that the economy was so healthy, it was more that our monetary policy had the country in a fantasy world.

That fantasy world is beginning to unravel.

[themagus187]

I love Milton Friedman, but this interview was a stain on his legacy unfortunately... He couldn't have been more wrong about the Fed. They've been creating crazy inflation for decades. I'm not exactly sure what he meant by "The Fed's good behavior". If you want to listen to a real economic "prophet" I would suggest learning about Murray Rothbard from the Austrian School. --RIP Milton Friedman.

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@themagus187

You are a moron! The Austrian school is a joke. This interview is from 2005 (only uploaded here in 2007). And the recession was caused by the Community Reinvestment Act, Fannie and Freddie, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development -- not the Fed!

[bonnevie9]

@LogicalFlawDetector wrong typical conservotard response

[jbrack]

@themagus187 Rothbard is the greatest of all time in my opinion.

[Justbeatit999]

Well I like mr Friedman but his monetarist theory is deeply flawed. I think Murray Rothbard is much beter and more pro freedom (government, central banking).

Austrian theory FTW!

[caltrop69]

He invented the idea of Cap and Trade. The video is floating around here on Youtube.

[mikeditson]

Love Milton f!

[BennyBanksterBoy]

I can't believe what respect this brainless piece crap got. This establishment ass kisser should have stuck to being an actuary.

MISES ROTHBARD HAYEK are economists. This guy is a deeply confused ass kisser.

[Claytrainor]

Friedman was far from perfect, but he's sure a lot better than Keynes and Marx.

I'm not a huge fan of monetarism, but free-markets and more voluntarism are clearly the solution to todays economic strife.

[CosmicFork]

Here's Milton Friedman, before the current economic disaster, (which is the worst recession since The Great Depression) saying that; "The stability of the economy is greater than it has ever been in our history. We really are in remarkably good shape." Do the Libertarian Loonies, that post these Milton Friedman videos' really believe his rhetoric? Talk about, "Don't confuse me with the facts... my mind's made up!"

[SatanTheMiner]

I didn't put these up for the purpose of espousing ideology. I put these up because this man was a brilliant thinker and should be subject to the same analysis and criticism as Marx or Smith.

[bbpro]

Are you saying that Marx was a brilliant thinker? If so, why?

[SatanTheMiner]

Yes - he should be subject to a great degree of analysis for his work in philosophy and economics. The problem isn't Marx (or Engels) - it's the people who take him word for word in a rather sheepish manner.

[bbpro]

It would appear that everyone took Marx word for word and with disastrous human consequences.

[D0g63rt]

They chew cud whilst perusing his writings?

[justnotcricket]

hi,

would anyone get the chance to say that in any mass media outlet in your country without first having to absolve guilt or pray for pennance by distancing themselves from the content of his ideas? just curious of what you think about public discourse in the states. deductive labelling is becoming rampant here.

would appreciate a reply, regards ryhan.

[Zardoz151]

@bbpro Marx did the most deep analysis of capitalism to date.

[Nintendomanwill]

'Marx did the most deep analysis of captialism to date;' that is total nonsense. In capitalism a business grows by accumulating capital so that it can afford deferring income further for extended structures of production which enables HIGHER wages by lower interest charged on loaning capital

But Friedman was wrong. People bought US debt bcs of greater govt demand for funding due to rising marginal US consumption caused by the underproduction of the Greenspan inflation-while govt spending ROSE!

[Alceste1977]

@bbpro Whether you are a Marxist or not he has a considerable influence on social, political and economic thought. Friedman has had a significant influence in ways most people would not even comprehend: he was one of the foremost thinkers in the monetarist mould. Again, maybe you approve, maybe you don't but it would be foolhardy not to take on their influence when assessing your own opinions on matters.

[TheXylophone123]

Bravo!

[bbpro]

I'm not sure where you live, but where I am from, virtually no one even seems to notice there is a recession going on, yet alone a "depression". So yes, it is safe to say the accumulation of capital and developed infrastructure up until this point proved to be incredibly resilient in face of an economic downturn [which would have not happened to begin with if not for government intervention].

[kusari86]

@CosmicFork the Chicago School shares its methodological approach with Keynesians. Austrian economists on the other hand unanimously predicted the current recession and others.

"...the government's policy of diverting capital to other uses creates a short-term boom in housing...Like all artificially created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever. When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out'' -- Ron Paul 09/10/2003

[Nintendomanwill]

@kusari86

And that Ron Paul quote is exactly why destroying economic calculation and imputation of price signals to investors with inflation, will inevitably cause excessive investment in gluts that must clear, wiping some people out to the extent that they've wasted society's resources more needed elsewhere.

[kusari86]

@CosmicFork

"Congress should act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors who were misled by foolish government interference in the market." Congressman Ron Paul (Austrian) 09/10/2003

[wikichris]

@CosmicFork Milton Friedman clearly didn't foresee the recession but others like Peter Schiff (Austrian economics) did with jaw-dropping accuracy. It's hard to know what Friedman (clearly wrong) was up to. He spends his entire career critiquing the US government only to appear on TV praising them.

[imstillalive0331]

@CosmicFork he was referring to the stable value of the dollar. the '90's had one of the best inflation rates since the Federal Bank was established. watch the whole video, not just pieces. he also predicts the sell off of the american dollar by foreign investors due to excessive inflation.

[chrismcm66]

@CosmicFork I love how the left thinks it's deregulation what caused the recession when government meddling was the main cause for the collapse. What, you think Fannie Mae buying all the bad loans out there was a good idea?

[TheSophist2007]

@CosmicFork he wasnt wrong because hes libertarian, he was wrong because he was a monetarist!

[TheSophist2007]

@CosmicFork after the monetarists, you have the austrians and the neo-keynesians left and most libertarians I would think believe in austrian economics. Sound money, not readily inflatable paper money, printing the debts aways and the people's wealth!

[An0nEeMouse]

@CosmicFork You misunderstand the terms. The economy was indeed stable. Growth was steady, inflation was steady (and low), there was *little fluctuation* which is what he means by stable, not 'resistant to crisis'. Americans were more prosperous than at any other time, so they *were* in remarkably good shape. That is not to say there were was not a crisis building beneath the surface, but then almost nobody foresaw the crisis and those few who did had weak methodologies, they were just guessing.

[TimeWarp66]

@An0nEeMouse

Peter Schiff was not guessing. He accurately predicted what was going to happen.

[robgobw]

@TimeWarp66

you have no understanding of what peter schiff is doing, he has been saying since 2008 that every following year would be a massive bust, hasnt happened so far, and nobody can predict things like that. Nor is he unique in having predicted in 2007 that there would be recession, even krugman said that housing prices were insane

[TimeWarp66]

@robgobw

Yes, but we must always remember that Paul Krugman is an idiot.

[Alceste1977]

@An0nEeMouse This isn't true. There were rumblings of an impending crisis for years. Specifically, the sub-prime lending market was highlighted as a cause for concern. No-one took action; as William Cobbett once said: "I defy you to agitate a man with a full stomach".

[CommanderGene]

@CosmicFork

The current economic recession was, again, caused by government. Look at the "affordable housing" campaign. Look at what Fannie and Freddy mac did. All of the government's policies led to subprime loans and speculation which eventually caused the housing bust. Government's fault, not free market.

[wowzinger]

@CosmicFork its pathetic compared to the great depression in the great depression u had people with university degrees working on the streets, we dont have that today. i sure havnt noticed the ressetion, and niether has any one i know suffered.

[layingthesod]

@CosmicFork Hey moron, Freidman died in 2006 at 97 years old, he was 93 in this video, making it 2002, at least 6 years BEFORE your so called great recession. Don't confuse me with the facts?? Seriously, how about you get your facts straight.

[CosmicFork]

@layingthesod Go Pound Sand Up Your Ass,  Right-Wing, Butt-Wipe!

[layingthesod]

@CosmicFork Very solid reply! Much like the rest of the left, when FACTS are presented, you only resource is personal attacks. Shouldn't you be out occupying wall street?

[RoboSlater]

@CosmicFork How did a liberal find his way to an intelligent discussion on YouTube?

[CosmicFork]

@RoboSlater Let's not look at how this phony "Free Market" has been disastrous to the world. The masses are weaker, alienated and more uneducated, while the elites get richer, more powerful and more repressive every minute! There's huge unemployment, bank failures. How many more collapses in the economy, how much more delinquency, and how many more millions of people in jail, how many more thousands dying because of no Health Care do you guys need, to see this isn't the great plan you claim? ??

[tastyshake]

I agree...I tip my hat to milton friedman. But I think his comments about how good the economy is better than ever shows the 1 problem with his theory and ideas. He never called for the end of the federal reserve and the implementation of sound money...from what I have read and heard from him, this was the only flaw in his ideas....You're right, the Austrians were and always will be right, like Mises and Rothbard. Nonetheless, Friedman was a master debater and I've learned a lot from him!

[gsingh5]

I disagree with milton when he said that democracy and capitalism go hand in hand.....that has been refuted both theoretically and historically

however, he was an amazing intellect

[OMikrosIroas]

What he means is that you can not have democracy without capitalism. Not the other way around. He always said that capitalism is a necessary condition for freedom. But not a sufficient one. He has clarified it a lot of times.

[Scoforever]

He did once.

watch?v=JL3FT0O4kYg

But yes Austrian theory is much better than that of the monetarist.

[gunsandbullhorns]

The idea of School Vouchers is offensive to my libertarian principles. The "Public Choice" doctrine is not liberty. It's a compromise, and it's crummy.

I think Friedmans book 'Capitalism & Freedom' is great. Everyone should read it. ...but I think the Austrians have a better and more reliable economic theory, and I prefer their brand of liberalism too.

None the less, a tip of the hat to you Mr. Friedman. You work is appreciated across many free-market circles.

[SunBeamsan]

agrees

[Krampfarsch]

i second your whole statemant.

i am currently reading "capitalism and freedom".

greetings from germany.

[Scoforever]

Like a negative income tax its a transition.

[migkillertwo]

"the economy is stronger than it has ever been before"

good thing this guy died before the housing bubble burst.

MISES FTW!

[ZDWmiamicane]

He's 100% right about government. They're the source of this bad economy. Thomas Sowell talks about it in his new book "Housing Boom & Bust"

[flukemate]

i'm not religous in anyway but GOD BLESS MILTON FRIEDMAN!!!

[thinkingrationally]

Here, here!! I wish Milton was around today. Of course watching our current spending spree would probably have killed him rather than the cause of his death in 2006.

[Entropy56]

I dance naked to the Charlie Rose theme song.

[edsanville]

When did this interview take place?

[tymes10]

Dec 26, 2005... google videos has the whole thing in 1 piece. He died Nov 16, 2006.

[stevemcgee99]

8:00 - Milt said if we inflate, foreigners would start dumping the dollar.

Didn't the Fed just set the overnight rate to 2% last week?

[skylerh007]

he's holding back and not telling us all he knows.

[Xdrakemanx]

It'd be interesting to have Friedman's analysis on the credit crisis, considering he said in this interview that the US economy was in "remarkably good shape."

RIP Milton.

[joseinTokyo]

thanks for posting this!