Friedman Speaks to the Fairmont Conference

The Fairmont Conference was convened in 1980 in San Francisco by Dr. Henry Lucas and Thomas Sowell. This conference attracted many of the nation's leading intellectuals, policymakers, and community leaders and led to the creation of The New Coalition for Economic and Social Change, the country's only black conservative think tank.

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[donaldAbraham]

Milton Friedman rules. Common sense.

[picapauengracado]

By the way, free trade isn't a Friedman's idea and it has wide support even by the most interventionist economist (Friedman is not that laissez faire btw). The best defense for freedom of exchange is the Comparative Advantage (look it up) from David Ricardo, almost 2 centuries ago. Cheap prices and high-quality products (like the computers we're using) is considered a good thing by economists. Anyone over 30 can tell you how protectionism (aka fascism) has resulted in hunger here in Portugal.

[dmg46664]

@picapauengracado Friedman is pretty darn laissez faire... there are only two interventionist policies that I'm aware of his, Fed setting the money supply through the banks (and he was constantly trying to think of a better way, hence the helicopter description) and the negative income tax (which was meant as a way to phase out the welfare state), and not be a permanent solution. So I think saying that he isn't that laissez faire, is unfair.

[jamo387]

Dr Friedman talking substance almost from the get-go. Percy Sutton, blathering from 18:26-22:38 and saying next to nothing substantial. If you simply showed me the amount (in terms of time) of substantive monologue, I could tell you which speaker was from the left and which was from the right.

The left is almost always about emotion, intent and equality of outcome. The right is about logic, results and equality of opportunity.

[seppsters]

@picapauengracado

É bom ver alguém com senso comum, mas infelizmente há muita gente com memória selectiva em Portugal. :)

[TimothyADonaghue]

I love that Thomas Sowell is sitting right in the corner of the shot.

[mmamolina]

@picapauengracado good post. =)

[hegemonymony]

facking genius.

You silly "Liberals" had better learn... and quick. 

[picapauengracado]

@liveguns

There might be truth to your statement that commerce breads imperialism. Cases like the Phoenicians that were huge traders and never got involved in war are pretty rare. In general, a government has always tended to evolve around trade and capped that wealth for megalomaniac projects, mainly conquest. Sooner or later, they end up destroying the goose that lays the golden eggs, and trade collapses.

But I'm sure that Friedman supported e.g. the rule of law that tends to curb it.

[liveguns]

@picapauengracado

Well their is no doubt in my mind, what i am beggining to witness here in north america and aorund the world is that surely " capitalism " leads quite quickly to fascism and with the technologies and military equipment ( that supposedly capitalism gave us at the highest quality and cheapest prices ) of this day and age a tyranical fascist government is a scary thought as it almost renders resistance futile. you know ? with the cradle to grave propaganda.

[flukemate]

@picapauengracado Well you didnt really answer my question but anyways, many people misinterpreted Friedman's proposals. A lot of the time, Friedman proposed policies that werent necessarily ideal, but the best under certain conditions. For example, Friedman proposed school vouchers like you mentioned bc public schools exist, but ideally he would be in favor of the full privatization of schools

[picapauengracado]

@flukemate

Milton Friedman was very libertarian compared to mainstream, but within the libertarian stream, he was a small fish. I personally love most of his public policy recommendations (voluntary army, minimum guaranteed income, and school vouchers) and I think they are more libertarian than the status quo, but they did earn him many libertarian enemies who saw him as a sold out and a compromiser. Milton did become more and more of a radical libertarian as he become older.