Milton Friedman

thanks dr. friedman!! you and your chicago chronies have successfully dismantled and neutralized the regulatory new deal measures that held this ridiculous economy together for so long. while he speaks very convincingly about helping the "poor," his policies exacerbated the canyon between the bourgoeis elite and the wretched poor in chile, while raving about an "economic miracle."

i love how they call corporate feudalism "freedom" and the masses all buy it!

this neoliberal garbage is supposed to improve the lot of the ordinary man but all it really does is force the ordinary man to work harder & longer for ever-decreasing pay. i love the way neoliberal t policies really improved the lot of the ordinary man in the American Rust Belt for the last 4 decades.

there was so much freedom in Chile under Pinochet! Argentina has benefited from Menem's free market policies

The Road to Liberty is paved with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants.

@Daniel

For some reason I'm having trouble posting. I hope this isn't redundant as a result.

Before people begin flocking to Chile based on your comments, perhaps you should enlighten them regarding Chile's distribution of wealth? Or perhaps you only present numbers that support your claims?

Well, yes Chile does have a high gini-coefficient, equating to income inequality. So does the US, but ours has gone down significantly since 2008 and the onset of the recession, so perhaps income inequality is not the best way to measure well-being. How about human development index? On that they score third in Latin America. Their poverty rate is 18%, 5th lowest in Latin America, of course if poverty rate is the best measure of prosperity, China's is only 8%. So yes, flock to Chile.

What happened next? Chile experienced an unprecedented economic boom. Unfortunately this did not last. Pinochet had made the decision, against mr. friedmans advice, to peg their currency to the dollar and inflation resumed. But the inflation ended and the boom resumed. Now Chile has the strongest economy of South America, with the highest per-capita GDP, up from one of the lowest. By 2015 Chile is projected to be the first nation on the continent to reach developed nation status.

Before everyone begins moving to Chile based on your claims, perhaps you should tell them about their distribution of wealth over there? Or do you only stick to the numbers that favor your claims?

Before we make false statements, let's examine Chile, shall we? Pinochet reversed Chiles turn toward Marxism, with the help of the CIA and the advice of Henry Kissinger. Who is quoted as saying that Chiles government is "too important for the decision to be left to the Chilean people." Nevertheless with the advice of Chicago economists Pinochet halved public spending. Of course poverty increased briefly, many jobs were public.

The road to socialism is paved with taxation and blood.

The road to blood is paved with socialism and taxation