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Milton Friedman on Energy and oil

In the 1920s, scare stories were being written about the danger that we would run out of oil because the then proven reserves would last for only ten or fifteen years. In the interim, consumption of crude oil has multiplied manyfold—and so have proven oil reserves. The fact is that it does not pay to find and prove more than about fifteen years’ oil reserves at any time.
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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  1. There is one simple way to end the energy crisis and the gasoline shortage tomorrow—and I mean tomorrow and not six months from now, not six years from now. Eliminate all controls on the price of crude oil and other petroleum products. The gasoline lines would melt faster than the snows of winter.
    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. This leads to my next myth—the myth that government can spend money at nobody’s expense. What was really involved in that last story was that somehow the local people do not pay out the money coming down from Washington somebody else does. Of course, the truth is that the money makes a round trip between Florida and Washington, and there is a discount taken off for cash as it passes through Washington. Some of you may remember that wonderful description of government by the French economist, Frederic Bastiat, who said that government is that fiction whereby everybody believes that he can live at the expense of everybody else.
    Economic Myths and Public Opinion
    Column, 1976, The Alternative: An American Spectator, vol. 9
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  3. The end of the draft has not ended controversy about the draft. In recent months the news media have carried story after story alleging that the volunteer armed force is a failure. Volunteers, it is said, are too few and of poor quality, despite substantial pay raises for first-termers.
    Volunteer Armed Force: Failure or Victim?
    Column, 1974, Newsweek, February 11, 1974; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, February 27, 1974, p. 4572, introduced by Representative William A. Steiger of Wisconsin, who cites it as appearing “in the February 11 Newsweek”, Congressional Record, February 27, 1974, p. 4572
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