Milton Friedman on spending other people's money
Friedman's point that nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as their own, and what follows from it.
3 passages in the archive3 checked against the source0 not yet checked
Equally important, you cannot spend somebody else's money unless you first get it. … So the concept of doing good with somebody else's money has force or coercion built into it as an essential feature.
The Open MindInterview, 1977, The Open Mind, hosted by Richard Heffner, Episode “A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy” (May 3, 1977)Checked against the sourceWatch itOur problems have arisen from good people who are trying to do good, but trying to do good in a fundamentally flawed way. The welfare state is in many ways a noble construct, a noble concept. It's the concept that we ought to help our fellow men. What flaws it is that it's one thing for you to help me out of your pocket. It's another thing for you to help me out of his pocket. And the fundamental flaw of the welfare state, in my opinion, is the idea that you should do good with somebody else's money.
The Open MindInterview, 1977, The Open Mind, hosted by Richard Heffner, Episode “A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy” (May 3, 1977)Checked against the sourceWatch itNobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own.
Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman interviewInterview, 2000, PBS, “On Freedom and Free Markets,” interview conducted October 1, 2000Checked against the sourceRead the transcript
Looking for something he said on this that is not here? Tell us, orask the archive in your own words.