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Milton Friedman on Poverty and development

Europeans have a much higher average income than Africans in the market sector—perhaps in the ratio of as much as 10 to 1. But Africans in the market sector have a much higher average income than their fellows in the traditional sector—in about the same ratio. Both Europeans and Africans have benefited from their cooperation.
Rhodesia
Column, 1976, Newsweek, May 3, 1976; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, April 29, 1976, pp. 11979 to 11980, introduced by Representative John Ashbrook of Ohio, who gives it as “an excellent article on Rhodesia by Milton Friedman, which appeared in the May 3 edition of Newsweek”, Congressional Record, April 29, 1976, p. 11979
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  1. The average income of blacks here is far higher than the average income of all the people in the Soviet Union. The official government definition of the poverty line in the U.S. is higher than the average income in the Soviet Union; it’s higher than the income received by 90 percent of the people on the world’s surface. Now, that doesn’t mean blacks aren’t subject to injustice; of course they are.
    Interview with Milton Friedman
    Interview, 1973, Playboy
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  2. By relying primarily on voluntary co-operation and private enterprise, in both economic and other activities, we can insure that the private sector is a check on the powers of the governmental sector and an effective protection of freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought.
    Capitalism and Freedom
    Book, 1962, Introduction, p. 3
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  3. Exchange is truly voluntary only when nearly equivalent alternatives exist. Monopoly implies the absence of alternatives and thereby inhibits effective freedom of exchange.
    Capitalism and Freedom
    Book, 1962, Ch. 2, The Role of Government in a Free Society, p. 28
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