Scan barcode
solveggie's review
2.5
very academic language, addresses different arguments in some occasions which is helpful! I don't agree with a lot of what he said but it was helpful to see the liberal argument laid out the way he did, and it emphasized to me that a lot of what he thought capitalism would aid in (freedom, equality) is what most people are striving for, albeit through different methods. definitely not an essential read though.
kendallr12's review against another edition
3.0
Read as part of my new years resolution to read theory and original sources by folks I don't align with. I still am ideologically opposed to Milton and his legacy of neoliberalism but i can see why, after reading this and knowing about the context of history in which he was espousing this, certain people were taken by it. It was radical at the time and full of untested hypotheses that appealed to a certain rugged american ethos (one I do not possess tho). It was hard not to get irritated reading this especially his opinions on discrimination, but I do feel like there were some ideas I could at least work with. Like when he criticizes public housing policy for being condescending and paternalistic. He does have a point. I don't agree with exactly where he carried the argument but I do support a cash payment style aid for certain things (although he may have been using that proposal as a straw man.)
Anyway. Still not on board with neoliberalism. But now I feel more informed as to why.
Anyway. Still not on board with neoliberalism. But now I feel more informed as to why.
let_laugh_rule's review against another edition
read 20 years ago. wouldn't trust a rating without re-reading.
skitch41's review against another edition
2.0
The best way to describe Milton Friedman's manifesto is that while it has a laudable goal, the spreading of economic freedom to all, the means by which he would achieve them would ultimately do the opposite and leave people in continual poverty. His first chapter on how important economic freedom is is very good, but all of his arguments employ either strongman arguments that can't be reasonably argued against or straw man arguments that are too easy to knock down. Not only that, but his chapter on how anti-discrimination laws in the workplace would be unnecessary if the free market were allowed to do its work is an appalling argument. Thank God that most of these arguments are falling out of favor due to the current economic hardships and the incompetence of the current administration. In summation, read chapter 1 and skip everything else.
strong_extraordinary_dreams's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting for historical reasons. Of course I feel kinda sad for him now, his thinking was so cute and ... hmmm... dishonest, but still the unusual ideas were good. It was refreshing and there were good things in it.
But really, his pretended blissful ignorance of vast & fundamental inequalities in information, market behaviors, access to corruption, class, wealth, access to tools and resources, a properly operating justice system, ability to use the state, the allocation of the state's collections.
In a way, this is the Tea Party: pretend that there should be no state, that is, except for the vast, unregulated, uncontrolled state supporting the military industrial complex, and that support's Mr Friedman's university.
Some quotes:
" a black man in a city can get the same services as a rich white person by saving, and the same for all other items"
"Various emperical studies have demonstrated that the return on investment in education far exceeds the return on other forms of capital. This implies a problem with capital markets"
" [if there were school vouchers then ] all kinds of schools would spring up"
But really, his pretended blissful ignorance of vast & fundamental inequalities in information, market behaviors, access to corruption, class, wealth, access to tools and resources, a properly operating justice system, ability to use the state, the allocation of the state's collections.
In a way, this is the Tea Party: pretend that there should be no state, that is, except for the vast, unregulated, uncontrolled state supporting the military industrial complex, and that support's Mr Friedman's university.
Some quotes:
" a black man in a city can get the same services as a rich white person by saving, and the same for all other items"
"Various emperical studies have demonstrated that the return on investment in education far exceeds the return on other forms of capital. This implies a problem with capital markets"
" [if there were school vouchers then ] all kinds of schools would spring up"
cbrown12496's review against another edition
1.0
Milton Friedman almost never seems illogical. If we hold true the assumptions he begins his book with, namely that the liberal definition of freedom is nearly total individual autonomy (though he never states this explicitly) and that individuals are entitled to equality as it relates to being and opportunity (and therefore not a material wealth), Friedman's arguments hold spectacularly well. And that's just the problem with this bookâin order for most of the claims he presents in this book to hold, there are quite a few assumptions that must also hold in reality. Unfortunately, many of them don't. I don't want to get into the nitty gritty of each one, but this does tend to be the case.
While this is annoying, it doesn't infuriate me. What infuriates me is his treatment of subjects like racial profiling/discrimination as simple matters of preference and justifies from his liberal (he means this in the classical sense, not in the left-wing-progressive sense) political philosophy. Furthermore, he rejects the notion that minorities have reason to complain about capitalist economic structures on the basis that, in the long run, capitalism actually makes them quite a bit better off. Meanwhile, he seems to show no concern for the well-being of those living under poverty and injustice as they are in the short run. The focus of this book is essentially capitalism in the US. He acknowledges this throughout. What he fails to acknowledge is that this free-market system essentially only works for the already-privileged.
While this is annoying, it doesn't infuriate me. What infuriates me is his treatment of subjects like racial profiling/discrimination as simple matters of preference and justifies from his liberal (he means this in the classical sense, not in the left-wing-progressive sense) political philosophy. Furthermore, he rejects the notion that minorities have reason to complain about capitalist economic structures on the basis that, in the long run, capitalism actually makes them quite a bit better off. Meanwhile, he seems to show no concern for the well-being of those living under poverty and injustice as they are in the short run. The focus of this book is essentially capitalism in the US. He acknowledges this throughout. What he fails to acknowledge is that this free-market system essentially only works for the already-privileged.
dickh's review
5.0
Milton Friedman wrote many great things but this book in undoubtedly one of the best. He addresses many topics and, although the book was published in 1962 his words are still right on target today. Whether he is writing about what we call charter schools, a negative income tax (much like the earned income tax credit), or reduced regulatory oversight in all areas, his views still inform. All of our elected officials would do well to read, and learn, from this book.