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Milton Friedman on The free society

But nonetheless, it is disheartening to see us take this further long step on the road to tyranny so lightheartedly, so utterly unaware that we are doing something fundamentally in conflict with the basic principles on which this country is founded. The first time, we may venture only a small way. But the next time, and the next time?

Context. From the first of two New York Times op-ed essays written at Ely, Vermont, in October 1971, after the August 15 wage-price freeze and as the Nixon administration’s Phase II pay board and price board took over. The sentence before predicts that the controls will collapse rather than harden “into a full-fledged straitjacket.”

Morality and Controls: I
Column, 1971, The New York Times, October 28, 1971; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Senate, October 29, 1971, pp. 38201 to 38202, introduced by Senator Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon, who dates the two essays to “the October 28 and 29 editions of the New York Times”, under the header “[From the New York Times, Oct. 28, 1971]”, Congressional Record, October 29, 1971, pp. 38201–38202
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Milton Friedman, “Morality and Controls: I” (The New York Times, October 28, 1971; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Senate, October 29, 1971, pp. 38201 to 38202, introduced by Senator Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon, who dates the two essays to “the October 28 and 29 editions of the New York Times”, under the header “[From the New York Times, Oct. 28, 1971]”, 1971), Congressional Record, October 29, 1971, pp. 38201–38202. https://miltonfriedman.org/quotes/further-long-step-on-road-to-tyranny-1971

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He also said

  1. I have found, over a long time, that some people are natural economists. They don’t take a course, but they understand—the principles seem obvious to them. Other people may have Ph.D.s in economics, but they’re not economists. They don’t think like an economist. Strange, but true.

    Context. Replying when the interviewer apologized for not being an economist; his first words were “You mean you’re not a trained economist.”

    The Romance of Economics
    Interview, 2006, Interview by Tunku Varadarajan, The Wall Street Journal; reprinted in Hoover Digest 2006 No. 4
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  2. What this demonstrates, fundamentally, is that no simple principle is really adequate. We do not have all the answers, and there is no simple formula that will give us all the answers. That’s why humility, tolerance, is so basic, so fundamental. Because the only way that we can get a little closer to those fundamental principles is by being tolerant, by considering and respecting the opinions of people who disagree with us.

    Context. Concluding his example of a stranger about to jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, where he says most libertarians would grab him despite the principle of not initiating coercion.

    Say 'No' to Intolerance
    Speech, 1991, Liberty, vol. 4, no. 6 (July 1991), pp. 17-18
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  3. Private speculators are far from omniscient. This time, they happened to be right and so made handsome profits. Next time, they may be wrong and suffer grievous losses. But in either case, they speculate at their own risk with their own money. Official speculators, too, are far from omniscient. This time, they were wrong; next time, they may be right. But there is an important reason why they are more likely to be wrong than right. They speculate not with their own money but with the taxpayers’ money. As a result, there is little pressure on them to control their natural impulse to resist change.

    Context. From an April 1973 column written after the international monetary crisis of early 1973, in which the dollar was devalued on February 12, 1973 and the major currencies soon moved to floating exchange rates. “This time” is that early-1973 crisis.

    Speculation and Speculation
    Column, 1973, A column of April 23, 1973, reprinted in the Congressional Record, Senate, February 7, 1978, p. 2590, introduced by Senator William Proxmire among “articles by Professors Friedman, Okun, and Schmidt” under the heading “Letting the Dollar Float” (pp. 2590 to 2591). The reprint names no publication and gives no date; the date is his own, from “Back to the Gaming Table” (1978), which says “I wrote in this space (April 23, 1973)” and quotes this column’s passage on the swap agreements word for word, Congressional Record, February 7, 1978, pp. 2590 to 2591
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