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Milton Friedman on Free markets and the price system

The Chilean economy did very well, but more important, in the end the central government, the military junta, was replaced by a democratic society. So the really important thing about the Chilean business is that free markets did work their way in bringing about a free society.
Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman interview
Interview, 2000, PBS, “On His Role in Chile Under Pinochet,” interview conducted October 1, 2000
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  1. I gave a talk at the Catholic University of Chile under the title "The Fragility of Freedom." The essence of the talk was that freedom was a very fragile thing and that what destroyed it more than anything else was central control; that in order to maintain freedom, you had to have free markets, and that free markets would work best if you had political freedom. So it was essentially an anti-totalitarian talk.
    Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman interview
    Interview, 2000, PBS, “On His Role in Chile Under Pinochet,” interview conducted October 1, 2000
    Checked against the sourceRead the transcript
  2. Well, the way in which many economists have implicitly reconciled it is by being in favor of the free market in general and opposed to the free market in particular. This area is a special case. It needs regulation. This area is a special case. You know, the same thing happens to businessmen. Every businessman is in favor of private enterprise. Except for himself.
    The Open Mind
    Interview, 1977, The Open Mind, hosted by Richard Heffner, Episode “A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy” (May 3, 1977)
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  3. Fundamentally, the Soviet Union is a market economy, but it’s a distorted market economy, because the extraordinarily great role of government forces the market into channels which are not efficient and not effective, and so much of its power is wasted in simply overcoming the bureaucratic mess of the government. That’s why the Soviet Union has such a low standard of life.
    The Open Mind
    Interview, 1977, The Open Mind, hosted by Richard Heffner, Episode “A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy” (May 3, 1977)
    Checked against the sourceWatch it

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