Free to Choose - vol 08, 1980

See the entire video at www.ideachannel.tv
Unions sometimes protect some workers - their members - but usually at the expense of other workers. Government protects its employees and special groups of workers at the expense of other workers. Both unions and government restrict freedom. Friedman explains how the competition of employers for the talents of workers leads to the highest wages and best working conditions.

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• unions
• government
• workers
• wages
• taxpayers
• competition
• productivity
• milton
• friedman
• economics
• freedom
• capitalism
• choice

[stealthswimmer]

Nope, it would be a wage that is demanded by the skill employed by that job. It's not about having wages super high and it's not about having them super low. It's about having them determined by the market.

[BrianLudwig53]

hey gls009, pull your head out of your anal orifice. The lowest costs comes when the market dictates the prices. Labor unions inflate th cost of labor (variable cost) and as a result the total cost. that is why American companies are unable to compete with foreign companies who do not have unions artificially driving the price up. no one is suggesting that we all work for free. One more thing to think about; would you rather work for a lower wage in a recession or be laid off completely?

[LibertaerUeberAlles]

@SuaveSavant

Yes, you're correct. today's monetary problems are due to Keynesianism. Moreover, today's economy is an outgrowth of Roosevelt's policy. In WW2, FDR sided with the Marxists and their bankster-supporters, so it should be no surprise.

I wonder if our Commie friend, Bigmartinno1, would be so supportive of Marxism if he knew how many ethnic Russians and Ukrainians were murdered by the Bolsheviks. Historians tell us that 10s-of-millions perished at their bloody hands.

[louiethegreater]

Nice of Mr. Friedman to show the last paper processing plant in America, but hang on, I hear it is moving to China soon.

[SuaveSavant]

You're referring to the CIA coups in central and south america? Who says a libertarian necessarily supports that?

We have NOT had free market capitalism the past 30 years. You can make the case that pure market capitalism isn't possible if you like or that the pursuit of that asymptote a farce, but don't say FREE MARKET capitalism caused all these problems when it was gov't meddling that distorted the market and caused individuals to act irrationally.

[SuaveSavant]

What people want is freedom from persecution. They may not call it capitalism simply because they don't know what that is. But, they don't say, hey, let's have a collective ownership movement. They just don't want oppression; they want better times. Better times that can, I believe, be realized through more free trade and private property rights.

[SuaveSavant]

I think you're looking at the "wealth" from FDR while missing the industrial revolution undernearth him. It's the same thing people do with Clinton and the tech revolution.

How are you meaning "recessions" and "busts" prior to a central bank? Ofc, markets can still experience similar things, especially by natural disaster. But, it's not as often, dramatic, or abitrary.

[SuaveSavant]

And I do think there's empirical evidence for the austrian case.

I, naturally, disagree about FDR. Policies that create distortions in the market like the FDIC, ICC, HUD, and on and on distort the market. It's how we get such undesireable things as we have now. The gov't straps us to the private failures. It makes us suffer alongside them when we didn't cause their business to fail -- they, themselves, did.

[SuaveSavant]

I don't know how a man could potentially be well-educated and then put faith in the socialistic movement. It's not the underlying reality. It does not excel on the underlying reality, but rather gets held back, attempts to make due in spite of the underlying reality. And this is the real way to economic growth?

Ofc I think Obama's a figurehead and a farce.

A priori isn't so bad. Interpretation from empirical evidence suffers from the same truth of knowledge problems.

[Bigmartinno1]

7)capitalist over the last 30yrs & have disgraced themsleves in the eyes of the public. Blair, Schroeder you name them, corporate whores. We're in for a tough ride as Right Wingers exacerbate the situation. However, on promising development is the rise of real left wing parties the NPA in France, Die Linke in Germany, the Socialist party in Ireland & others. That's the future I think.

[Bigmartinno1]

6)procrastinating, when not outright collaborating, with few exceptions. The reason was that conservatives are not all that ideologically indisposed to fascism. Fascism is capitalism under stress with its claws out. Classical liberalism was basically fascism.

If you think Obama is a socialist you are extremely deluded my friend, he's a corporate whore.

European elections? What do they mean? The national elections are what count. & yes I agree the nominal left has been far too

[Bigmartinno1]

5)really what with all those CIA inspired coups etc.

I'm from Europe a place where you can't say Socialism=Fascism without being laughed at & for good reason. All those European resistance movements, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Belgium, Norway, Italy etc etc were dominated by Communists & Socialists while their conservatives,like with the US & Britain, especially among the business community & despite the fact that war is a profitable business, were too busy appeasing & malignantly.....