Skip to content

Milton Friedman on Pollution and the environment

The difference is not that our government has been more efficient in avoiding pollution; it is that private enterprise finds that it is not profitable to pollute; it is more profitable to avoid pollution.
Why Government Is the Problem
Journal article, 1993, Hoover Institution Press, Essays in Public Policy no. 39, p. 6
Checked against the sourceRead the originalCite this passage

Where this comes from

Checked against the sourceThe wording was checked against the work itself.

Topics

He also said

  1. That illustrates a general rule: If a private enterprise is a failure, it closes down—unless it can get a government subsidy to keep it going; if a government enterprise fails, it is expanded. I challenge you to find exceptions.
    Why Government Is the Problem
    Journal article, 1993, Hoover Institution Press, Essays in Public Policy no. 39, p. 9
    Checked against the sourceRead the original
  2. The big difference between government coercion and private markets is that government can use coercion to make an exchange in which A benefits and B loses. But in the market, if A and B come to a voluntary agreement, it's because both of them are better off.
    Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman interview
    Interview, 2000, PBS, “The Economic Logic Behind Black Markets,” interview conducted October 1, 2000
    Checked against the sourceRead the transcript
  3. It is ironic that the Great Depression was produced by government but was blamed on the private enterprise system.
    Why Government Is the Problem
    Journal article, 1993, Hoover Institution Press, Essays in Public Policy no. 39, p. 15
    Checked against the sourceRead the original

Think this quote is wrong, misattributed, or missing context?Report it and it gets fixed, not argued with.