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Milton Friedman on Inflation

True, computed price-index numbers record double-digit inflation in early 1974. But these computed price-index numbers overstate the “real” inflation.
Perspective on Inflation
Column, 1974, Newsweek (June 1974); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, June 18, 1974, pp. 19786 to 19787, introduced by Representative Jack Kemp of New York, who calls it “his column this week in Newsweek.” The reprint gives no issue date, and the chart that ran with the column is not reproduced, Congressional Record, June 18, 1974, pp. 19786 to 19787
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  1. Keep your eye on one thing and one thing only: how much government is spending, because that is the true tax. Every budget is balanced. There is no such thing as an unbalanced federal budget. You're paying for it. If you're not paying for it in the form of explicit taxes, you're paying for it indirectly in the form of inflation or in the form of borrowing. The thing that you keep your eye on is what government spends. And the real problem is to hold down government spending as a fraction of our income. And if you do that, you can stop worrying about the deficit.
    Speech at San Diego Chamber of Commerce
    Speech, 1978
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  2. It takes several years for monetary growth to exert its full influence on prices. As a result, we have so far experienced only the early effects of the nearly 8 percent rate of growth of the past year and a half.
    The Inflationary Fed
    Column, 1973, Newsweek, August 27, 1973; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, November 7, 1973, p. 36327, introduced by Representative Robert Huber of Michigan as “Mr. Milton Friedman’s article that appeared in Newsweek of August 27, 1973”, Congressional Record, November 7, 1973, p. 36327
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  3. An all-volunteer force of equal effectiveness has less turnover and uses manpower more efficiently. As a result, it requires recruiting each year about 325,000 enlisted men, or only 75,000 in addition to the present number of true volunteers.
    The End of the Draft?
    Column, 1970, Newsweek (1970); reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, March 20, 1970, p. 8443, introduced by Representative William A. Steiger as one of “two recent articles on the volunteer army which were published in Newsweek.” The bracketed header “[From Newsweek, Mar. 23, 1970]” stands above the Stewart Alsop column printed first; this column carries no date of its own in the reprint, Congressional Record, March 20, 1970, p. 8443
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