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Milton Friedman on Wages, unions, and the minimum wage

A worker is protected from his employer by the existence of other employers for who he can go to work. An employer is protected from exploitation by his employees by the existence of other workers whom he can hire. The consumer is protected from exploitation by a given seller by the existence of other sellers from whom he can buy.
Free to Choose
Book, 1980, Ch. 8 "Who Protects the Workers?", p. 246
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  1. There is no place for government to prohibit consumers from buying products the effect of which will be to harm themselves.
    Who protects the consumer?
    Television, 1980, PBS, vol. 7
    Not yet checkedFind it at the source
  2. Why would Congress do such a thing? Because the adverse effect on the poor is diffuse and its source misunderstood and hence produces little political pressure. Effective pressure is exerted by organized groups that welcome the effect of a high minimum-wage rate in strengthening unionized and skilled workers vis-a-vis nonunionized and unskilled workers and in protecting employers in high-wage areas (the North) from the competition of employers in low-wage areas (the South). These organized groups find ready allies in the liberal reformers whose lack of understanding of economics misdirects their sincere concern for the disadvantaged.
    Legislating Unemployment
    Column, 1972, Newsweek (1972; the issue current on June 28, 1972); reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, June 28, 1972, p. 23100, Congressional Record, June 28, 1972, p. 23100
    Checked against the sourceRead the original
  3. We have heard much these past few years of how the government protects the consumer. A far more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.
    An Economist's Protest: Columns in Political Economy
    Book, 1966, p. 107
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