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Milton Friedman on Prices and what they do

Will we read next that government control of prices has created a shortage of sand in the Sahara?
Things That Ain’t So by Milton Friedman
Column, 1980, Newsweek, p. 79
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  1. Do you want a shortage? Have the government legislate a maximum price that is below the price that would otherwise prevail. That is what New York City and, more recently, other cities have done for rental dwellings, and that is why they all suffer or will soon suffer from housing shortages. That is why there were so many shortages during World War II. That is why there is an energy crisis and a gasoline shortage.
    Blaming the Obstetrician
    Column, 1979, Newsweek (June 4, 1979); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, June 7, 1979, pp. 14007 to 14008, introduced by Representative G. William Whitehurst of Virginia, who describes it as “an article by Milton Friedman, which appeared in the June 4, 1979, issue of Newsweek”, Congressional Record, June 7, 1979, pp. 14007 to 14008
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  2. I am not enough of an expert—no one is—to know the million and one places where prices fixed by bureaucrats on the basis of arbitrary rules and accidental starting points have created distortions and shortages. … They are hidden in the interstices of an incredibly complex production system that cannot operate without the enormous efficiency of a market-price system to adapt changing demands to changing supplies. And many have been overcome by millions of citizens who found ways to avoid or evade the price controls.
    Why Now?
    Column, 1973, Newsweek (December 31, 1973); reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, January 24, 1974, p. 801, introduced by Representative John M. Ashbrook, who gives the issue as “the December 31, 1973 issue of Newsweek”, and reprinted again the same day at pp. 807 to 808 by Representative Earl F. Landgrebe, Congressional Record, January 24, 1974, p. 801
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  3. The explanations of the energy crisis and gasoline shortage that gush forth from government officials, newspaper reporters and TV commentators are tantamount to blaming the obstetrician for the baby.
    Blaming the Obstetrician
    Column, 1979, Newsweek (June 4, 1979); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, June 7, 1979, pp. 14007 to 14008, introduced by Representative G. William Whitehurst of Virginia, who describes it as “an article by Milton Friedman, which appeared in the June 4, 1979, issue of Newsweek”, Congressional Record, June 7, 1979, pp. 14007 to 14008
    Checked against the sourceRead the original

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