Milton Friedman fields questions from medical professionals at the Mayo Clinic regarding his advocacy of a free market in health care. www.LibertyPen.com
When I was doing my senior thesis in economics 45 years ago, I came across Friedman's essay on the negative income tax, and how it would eliminate all the built-in incentives for poor behavior on the part of welfare recipients. The essay was already over 30 years old at the time I first saw it. Friedman wrote in around 1941, and accurately predicted all the unintended consequences the welfare system created; single-parent families, no incentive to join the labor market, etc. Not only was he prescient in looking at the future, he developed an alternative that made perfect sense. Brilliant man.
Not if you look at depression and suicide rates in subsidized native American communities. It seems compassionate. But I've tried to mentor kids from those communities and it's just awful how they have surrendered ambition to the wind, knowing about the stipend
"Accurately predicted"? "Perfect sense"? Arrogant confidence was exactly the problem of the Economics discipline not the thoughts they preach. He was a very good speaker indeed and he had a lot of knowledge but he wasn't a Wizard and he surely didn't have a crystal ball. Try to look at his critics and proponents at the same time. In my opinion that is wiser than lionizing whatever our preferred preachers are. Confirmation bias is a hell of a drug and who knows to what extent it affects us and hardens our established views which might not make so much perfect sense after all...
Tito Santos Milton did accurately predict the negative consequences of the welfare state. No question. He studied history and foretold that it would repeat itself.
Friedman is so polite, humble, and rational. He never once forces his doctrine. He teaches people the truth like Socrates. He looks at the situation objectively and arrives at a rational conclusion.
andreas aristeus What makes you think that? Have you actually read Socrates? He did not care about morality and he took a centrist view of politics, which he generally steered away from. In Socrates' mind the most important ideal was to be consistent with himself. Even though his closest friends could have broken him out of prison and let him live, he chose to abide by an unjust punishment just because it was the law. He did not care about ultimate justice or morality; all that mattered was whether or not the law was upheld. For, he reasoned, if he did not obey the law, it would certainly send the message to the rest of society that disobedience was acceptable and that would lead to chaos in society. So, no, Socrates cared little for justice. We do credit Socrates, however, for fathering logical reasoning, but not a moral person. Don't be fooled by Plato either. Even though he wrote Plato's Republic, he actually advocated a monarchy.
Being interested in smart people doesn't make someone smart. Joe Rogan wouldn't be a good interviewer for Milton.. he just doesn't know enough and he isn't smart enough.
@@lucastyler5549 That's true, and in any case I'm sure whatever silly thing Joe would ask him would at least end up being funny lol "So Milton.. you ever try DMT and consider your own mortality? We're just all monkeys man"
Mike Blain Yeah but he's kinda boring now days, not that he's not as smart but this Milton guy is so calm and cool and gets people to listen in ways most can't.
Rocky Yep I like him too but he's not as smooth as Friedman was back in the 70's and 80's. Paul gets kinda fired up, goes on rants etc.. Friedman to me, could make anybody look like a fool in a debate.
Milton Friedman is my favorite non-Austrian economist. Not only was he a strong proponent of the efficiency markets, he was also a strong advocate of libertarianism and human freedom.
Interesting, but….Here is why Milton Friedman’s ideas are nonsense. Look what’s happened to Chile and the US after 40 years of tax cuts for the rich and corporations, austerity, cutting social programs, deregulation, privatization, free trade etc. The USA is now the most highly unequal industrialized country in the world with the highest incarceration rate in the world, on the other hand, Scandinavian countries shut down 24 prisons due to lack of crime. All this inequality and poverty started with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan promoted Milton Friedman’s policies. Conservatives like to accuse the left of a wealth transfer, what they don’t tell you is that there has already been a wealth transfer from the poor and middle-class to the rich to the tune of about $50 trillion while wages for the poor and middle class have been flat. This is according to Ronald Reagan’s own budget director David Stockman, who now regrets implementing supply side austerity free market policies, he states this: “In 1985, the top five percent of the households - the wealthiest five percent - had net worth of $8 trillion - which is a lot. Today, after serial bubble after serial bubble, the top five per cent have net worth of $40 trillion. The top five percent have gained more wealth than the whole human race had created prior to 1980.” People need to understand that there are two kinds of dominant economists out there now, one is conservative free market supply side economist and the other is the progressive demand-side economist. Conservative supply side economics policies have been proven not to work over and over again, yet the rich and conservatives still promote them. The reason people in Detroit are being poisoned with leaded water is precisely because of Friedman’s idea that big government is evil and his idea that everything should privatized. The reason Detroit is in shambles economically is precisely because of his free trade policies. Government for the people by the people is the only thing that prevents it from being overtaken by the rightwing rich and corporations, which is precisely what’s happened to the US after conservative policies got rid of regulations/laws that prevented unlimited funding to politicians and specifically Republicans get most of the money. Big government is the only thing that prevents governments from being bought out. The US was bought and sold over four years ago, this is why it’s currently on the brink of revolution. “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” - Benito Mussolini Milton Friedman stated that his free market policies would produce democracy, this certainly did not happen in Chile. The economy in Chile worked wonderfully for the top u1% of course. If Friedman‘s ideas were so wonderful, why did the Chilean people reject his policies? The Chilean people should be jumping up and down in the streets praising Milton Friedman, yet they are rioting. The economy in Chile worked wonderfully for the top 1% of course. If Friedman‘s ideas were so wonderful, why did the Chilean people reject his policies? The Chilean people should be jumping up and down in the streets praising Milton Friedman, yet they are rioting in the streets. Statistically, 80% of the Chilean people have no money left at the end of the month. 33% of Chilean GDP goes to the 1%, that’s higher than almost anywhere else in the world. The propaganda that the middle class in Chile has grown under Milton Friedman’s policies is nonsense. A person making $180 per month in Chile is categorized as being middle class, for a family of four its around $630 per month. The richest 20% of Chilean people make approximately just over $900 to $1,100 per month. This is how propaganda from conservative rightwing think tanks like the Cato Institute, Liberty Pen, Free To Chose etc skew the data to make Milton Friedman look good. Just like the US healthcare is privatized in Chile and most people don’t have access to it because they can’t afford it. Utilities have been privatized and they are expensive. Over 80% percent of the Chilean people want Milton Friedman’s/Pinochet’s policies reversed. In terms of healthcare, approximately 700,000 people In the US go bankrupt because they can’t afford private healthcare or they are turned down because of pre-existing conditions. Approximately 50,000 Americans die each year because they can’t afford healthcare. Ron Paul who’s a fan of Milton Friedman, stated that he thought that it was ok if someone just died in front of a hospital if they can’t afford healthcare because they were disabled or just had a run of bad luck. Ron Paul later backtracked and said “well there’s always the churches” which is bullshit. How many people die or go bankrupt in France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Finland etc. etc, ZERO. For your own good, my advice is not to listen in Milton Friedman. Looking forward to your replies.
Netflix would make a film about the ideas and life's work of Milton Friedman from a Marxist Leninist perspective. Be careful what you ask for. Also you'll probably find it an easier sell if you try getting the Daily Wire to do it. At least they won't lie and advance a Communist perspective.
Kyle Shy Again what does that have to do with the crisis of national HC? Meaning that if government did not have standards and licensing our medical crisis would not exist? Do you have any research credentials in any related scholarly field? Any at all?
SpringDreams2 According to whom? Do you any idea what standards exist in the licensing process? Any at all? That old joke is just that. Finishing last in your Harvard Medical school class is still Harvard medical school. This means you have managed to meet the higher criteria than a mid range state school where you could finish in the top 20%. Lastly there are a half dozen protocols in place that test doctors knowledge base before becoming a licensed doctor and after.
Steve Jovan well but to become a doctor you don't have to graduate from Harvard see. There are plenty of other schools. And let's say you got into Harvard not by your ability but by pockets. Does that also still count? Let's then again presume that you didn't have to go to Harvard to get licensed, nor any other school for that matter. The only people that will now come to you will only come based on your abilities, not by your "license". These abilities will show themselves by competition with other doctors, just as everything in every non regulated field. Success therefore grants you a license and success is the ultimate guarantee that you are able. Not a license which most anyone can aquire if he goes towards that goal. Our schooling systems are not built in a way that make the most intelligent people have the best grades. They have good grades yes but the best grades are held by those who work hard and to work hard you usually need a goal to work towards. That means that at the end of the day it is possible to become licensed in a field which is looking for the most intelligent people without being the most intelligent. This would never happen with honest competition and without intervention. Seems like a good joke to me
Absolutely amazing. Realistic ideas with realistic answers. It is one thing to focus on practicality but it is a whole other thing to give and maintain practicality. Milton Friedman really is a glorious wonder in how he manifests and articulates his answers to the questions he is given
Fabulous. Doesn't try to browbeat, intimidate, mock or humiliate the person he is debating. Listens and considers the question at hand. Then formulates a considered and measured reply. So classy and dignified.
I watched his PBS series Free To Choose when I was a teen and was so impressed that I attended the University of Chicago for grad school. He was no longer there but many of the professors who did their theses and training under him were my instructors. That was the greatest learning experience in my life.
When my head's about to explode from all the political talk, particularly Obamacare right now, I like to go back to Dr. Friedman to get my bearings straight again. Works every time.
@@lucasm4299 Yes I do. Medical costs have increased at 4 times the inflation rate for 50 years. Instead of figuring out why that's happened, and addressing it, they just spent more money to make a horrible business model bigger. And of course the escalation of costs continued due to increased demand. If they'd addressed the inability to buy insurance across state lines, and addressed tort reform it might have worked. But they didn't and the cost escalation continues.
Shinsuke Hawkman A free market rarely creates monopolies in major industries. Monopolies in major industries usually exist in industries where pubic land is heavily used, and government intervenes to create local monopolies - utilities, telephone companies, cable companies etc. Sometimes natural monopolies do arise - like Standard Oil, and I suppose you might argue Microsoft. Neither of those hurt the public interest though. Standard Oil made prices lower for the consumer. They lost a propaganda campaign backed by bitter failed competitors, but they weren’t bad for the public. Rockefeller was able to sell at lower prices, and thus expanded. But even after getting 90% market share, he kept prices very low. Because he knew if he raised prices, other businessmen with lots of money would enter into competition with him, as the potential profits would allow this. If there had been a government sponsored monopoly, he would’ve been able to raise prices. Because of the free market, he had to keep prices low, or his monopoly would’ve ended due to competition. This was happening anyway - Standard Oil market share was drastically reduced by the time their monopoly was broken up; they weren’t really a monopoly anymore then. Microsoft also didn’t engage in high prices. They wouldn’t have become so ubiquitous if they had. Gary Kildall could’ve become Bill Gates (the story is legendary in Silicon Valley), but he priced his OS - considered superior to DOS - way too high. So nobody bought it. Microsoft consolidating the OS industry was a good thing. Just imagine if there had been a half dozen equally popular OSes, and people would’ve needed to port a software to all of them. Making software would’ve been a lot more expensive, and more time consuming. Instead publishers could just focus on making a quality product for one OS, or maybe two (Apple). Natural monopolies are not bad, and they are never safe - if you have no government protection and raise prices too high, other rich fuckers will inevitably see dollar signs and compete with you. It’s government backed monopolies where prices are kept high. Look how expensive landlines still are.
Solan K what about natural monopolies on resources? Like biers corporation for diamonds. the threat from outside competition springing up is no longer there and they raised the price of diamonds unnaturally higher than if the mines were in competition on the free market.
havenotchosenyet That’s a good point, De Beer’s was indeed a monopoly for a while (though it isn’t any longer). But the idea that De Beer’s monopoly raised prices doesn’t really hold up, because prices have actually risen significantly after the monopoly has ended (www.kitco.com/ind/Zimnisky/2013-06-06-A-Diamond-Market-No-Longer-Controlled-By-De-Beers.html). Prices have also become way more volatile - apparently De Beers used to hold stocks in reserve to keep prices stable, but can no longer do that. You could argue that correlation doesn’t imply causation, and that if De Beer’s had maintained its monopoly, prices would be even higher. But, that seems very unlikely. And of course diamonds are hardly a vital resource. Also if diamond prices rise too high, the market would likely shift to other precious stones. Or just buy smaller diamonds. It is extremely hard, perhaps impossible, to price gouge when it comes to luxuries.
Solan K I agree that diamonds aren't important,but that's not the point, the high prices for diamonds are a temporary thing,since de beers had to restrict supply to keep prices up and the new companies have to do the same to get a return on their investment,but this state is pretty unstable because looking at the demand and (potential unrestricted) supply the price should slowly fall.. De beers also started the culture of the diamond engagement ring,thank God diamonds aren't a vital resource because if it was they could pump up the price way higher.if it was something like petroleum(it never got close to a resource monopoly ) it would have seriously changed the American landscape since it was sculpted by the automobile.
I have lots of problems with that from an ideological standpoint. But, the fact is we are bankrupting our country with big gobmint. Negative Income Tax would save billions, possibly trillions, in the first year by sending direct payments to people from the IRS system. How? By eliminating all of the other federal “welfare” depts that employee thousands of people who cost us way too much money to simply divvy up funds according to different qualifications. Direct cash payments will shrink the size, scope, and power of the fed gobmint. And that will be going in the right direction.
I worry a negative income tax or a form of UBI would get absorbed by landlords increasing their rents... I guess you could buy property but don’t think it’s crazy to assume prices won’t spike there as well...
What he says is extremely accurate in all trades. I can't begin to tell you how many people get ripped off by "Licensed" anyone. I know a lot of you have had to clean up messes from "licensed" people. Hell, a drivers license doesn't even make a good driver.
Started with free market, ended with redistribution of wealth... You're free to make charity to a poor if you wish, but please spend your own money only, don't steal from others , don't force, don't rob people. Centralized bureaucratic government charity via robbery is not working, it causes much more harm than good.
Trying to help poor people through government is exactly like trying to help people through charity except that charity happens to be the least efficient charity company ever created.
Piotr Nowacki "Charity through government" is an oxymoron, it's the opposite of charity. Charity means giving voluntarily, taxation means taking forcefully. Bureaucrats don't know who should be helped, in what amount, and when the help should be stopped. Taxation of manufacturers puts most of the burden on the poorest - the consumers and the workers, who are paying ALL the taxes. Redistribution of wealth only drives the prices up, harming the poorest most. Taxation of businesses increases entry barriers to a markets, thus provoking monopolisation.
Out of curiosity, if we implemented an unfettered free market approach towards the poor whereby only those who prefer to give end up giving, and the poverty situation worsens (Dickensian England, people in squalor dying on the streets, people dying of respiratory diseases, exposure and so forth) then would you be willing to reconsider government intervention?
gerard pacificar The problem with that is when you first rip off the bandaid it's going to hurt..but then it heals. Of course once we convert to a free market system shits going to go down hill. But it'll reach a point where it gets better. And if you gave in and took the governments help then you're being completely counter productive.
He suggested that a better method would be direct cash transfers to enable people to buy insurance. Republicans would likely freak out at the idea of giving cash to poor people. Wanna try that instead? Most liberals would be in favor. In addition that still doesn't solve the problems of 1) pre-existing conditions 2) irresponsible people expecting emergency treatment. I never heard Freedman get asked the question of the uninsured 20-year-old who needs life-saving intervention. That's what I'd like to hear.
It kinda is. But I agree on Friedman's policy. That would be a more balanced capitalist system where working and unemployed people have their basic needs covered, as health for example.
One way of knowing you'll get good healthcare is through private certification. In the field of computer Power Supplies you see "80 Plus" certification labels on many PSUs. Any consumer who purchases these products most likely check for this certification as they don't want to take the risk of having their PC parts being ruined.
Agreed. I think the reason this subject is be brought up is because inflated real estate prices came out of government involvement and inflation is already being seen in college tuition and health care programs. If I can support any government involvement it is limiting private insurance companies ability to discriminate against preexisting conditions and age groups. Recent legislation does not address health costs just price which leads to taxation and inflation and then bankruptcy.
I first read his treatise on the Negative Income Tax about 40 years ago. It's obvious you've never read what he was describing. It's not a sales tax; it eliminates the counterproductive disincentives to improve oneself that are built into the current AFDC systems, administers it much more efficiently, and eliminates a huge amount of administrative waste in the process.
The problem is insurance. You can give money to people to pay for medical care if they want. But why not just cut insurance out of the picture completely. I live in a country with universal health care. The government pays for everything. The result is a system that's very conscious on keeping costs down and healthcare outcomes high. It wants people to be better because it will cost down in the long run. The private insurance system in the United States is the exact opposite. It wants people to remain not well to keep costs high.
Government healthcare is terrible. The government just gets lobbied by pharma, so they want you sick to make money off of you, they also don't want you healthy because they can keep taxing more and more. The problem is third parties in general. Go with a health savings account and watch as healthcare workers compete for cash and the quality goes up due to competition, not to mention accountability.
In this world you get what you get on your own. It will never be an equal or fair world. There will always be rich and poor. I believe in the free market because it has worked. I was born dirt poor in a broken/abusive home and I have been able, through my own efforts, to become wealthy. At no time did I ever receive assistance from government or family. In this world it is human ingenuity, hard work, and attitude that generate success. If prosperity eludes people it is trough their wrong efforts
I see this videos and it is like we are getting dumber nowadays and I don't mean just hearing Mr Friedman but even the smart and rational questions asked, everyone is so polite and don't speak over anyone
The problem you describe is only a problem from a statist paradigm. In a free market, you would choose in advance which dispatcher, or arrange in advance which hospital you use. Also without government "regulation" there would and could be inexpensive clinics that specialize in stabalisation. At the moment most of your bill goes to feeding government "regulators" and compliance, government "regulations" prevent specialization which eliminates competition and market growth to meet demand.
Let me guess..the stupid comments were the ones supporting the United States constitution and the Bill of Rights, not non-democratic authoritarian corporate oligarchic fascism.
Beta K Quite the contrary. The constitution was written for people like you and me to understand and enforce. It is not a "living" document the meaning of whose words is subject to change by whoever whores and pimps his/her way into power. It didn't give us rights; it took some away. We had our rights before the constitution was conceived, we have them now and we'll have them when it's returned to dust. Freedom is not electing our masters and a country is not free because the government is free to do whatever it wants, selling itself to big business (fascism) or to labor (socialism). But neither can freedom be separated from responsibility. Oh, that's enough. Go read Thomas Sowell. He writes better than I do and I've got a lot of other plates to spin (see Ed Sullivan).
J D Smith If the Constitution is not a living document then it's woefully deficient in accounting for future behavior. "The framers of the Constitution wisely spoke in general lan- guage and left to succeeding generations the task of applying that language to the unceasingly changing environment in which they would live...Merely because a particular activity may not have existed when the Constitution was adopted, or because the framers could not have conceived of a particular method of transacting affairs, cannot mean that general language in the Constitution may not be applied to such a course of conduct. Where the framers of the Constitution have used general language, they have given latitude to those who would later interpret the instrument to make that language applicable to cases that the framers might not have foreseen." Rehnquist, The Notion of a Living Constitution. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 29(2) p.402
More Friedman dribble... We now see the results of unregulated for profit healthcare, and unregulated Monopoly I vast numbers. The founders were aristocratic slave owners. The Constitution represented their window into their society and they knew it; thus, the amendment process was written in to ADAPT the Constitution.
I think the best solution is a two tier system like in Singapore, Sweden or France. Where the system still provides some form of Public health care, but opens itself up to private providers to compete with the public system for contracts. This in turn increases efficiency and returns the revenue savings back to both sectors. Sweden was able to drastically reduce its hospital wait times by adopting a two-tier system. As for Singapore, it has one of the most efficient and least costly healthcare systems in the world.
Morphing Reality Yeah, I think that if Singapore had the same amount of political freedom as it had economic freedom. It would be the perfect modern society. Like I can understand why Lee Kwan Yew used authoritarianism to build Singapore during its infancy, but I think now those authoritarian practices can be slacked since Singapore is now a wealthy and prosperous society.
Xenjih At least the cost themselves are maintained sustainable levels that way. Its by far the most affordable system of Healthcare for a society as a whole.
I'm going into the pharmacy profession (hopefully!) and i think that there is a need for an objective body to certify medical professionals, set the standard of courses and regulate. The GPhC does a fine job of this without taxes and government though, it's completely voluntary
we need Friedman. the person has saved more people through persuading govt adopt free market. good plz send Friedman again to liberate humanity fro clutches of monopoly and govt control
There was already a Friedman and people didn't listen, and we have the recordings too, and people don't listen, and some people still preach today the same things he said, and people still don't listen. Jesus told a story where a wicked rich man who spent his days in pleasure and didn't regard the poor ended up in the Hell of the old Testament, and, looking in the distance, he saw Abraham and asked him to send someone from the dead to his brothers to warn them so that they wouldn't end in Hell too. Abraham told him that those brothers should listen to the prophets of old, but the man insisted so Abraham told him this: [Gospel of Luke (King James Version) 16:31] And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Look up the whole story in Luke 16:19-31 People are wicked and dumb, they want their socialist pipedream bad and they don't care. Also, they want many other bad things, like whores and porn, drugs, sodomite marriage, free abortion, public indecency, wide open borders into western countries, and many other evil wicked things. IF there was ever a time when just fixing economics could restore our ill societies, that time is long past, I'm afraid.
@Nonso Okonkwo Free market doesn't mean stealing. you are confusing Usa's policies towards other countries as capitalism. it's not. USA isn't even in the top when it comes to economic freedom. it's hong kong.
Here's the thing about health care. It can work as a single payer system. It can also work as a market based system the way Dr. Friedman envisions it, especially with his answer at the end about providing care for the impoverished. It can't work as a monopoly with state and industry generated barriers to entry and lack of competition. Wherever there's a monopoly on something people value heavily, it begs for regulation and eventually nationalization.
The reason is that there is a bureucratic structure composed entirely from doctors who decide the standards of being a doctor, which is generally very high than one can imagine, and also who have a considerable impact on the number of medical schools which is, as easily seen, positively correlated with the number of doctors. By this way, the shortage of doctors become persistent in the economy and hence doctors earn twice/third as much as they are able to earn under no licensure economy.
The consistent problem with Friedman is that what he always talks about never exists. The same with how people talk about ideal socialism or how it hasn't existed yet in it's ideal form. It's like he intentionally only talks like the market will do ideal things instead of cronyism. It's a fact that if wealth equals power, the game won't be played fair by anyone. Like don't ensure health care for everyone? That's the literal meaning of civilization itself, is to come together to bolster each other. And it's like he fails to recognize that most of what we use was thought up of and developed by scientists and physicists who weren't interested in the market, they did it out of obsession and passion. The market took those ideas and then started selling them, but those physicists aren't properly compensated for their contributions. Incremental revisions come from the market, and normally ones that still promote planned obselesence - another distortion in Milton's "free market". It's easy to manufacture, it's damn challenging to developed AC distribution, or create the original steam engine or combustion engine, and those people weren't chasing the market. All in all Friedman and his Chicago boys are delusional at best and destructive at worst, but every once and a while he's got ideas that aren't pie in the sky.
Those are good points. It's true that, for example Tesla was a genius full of passion for his work. But many scientists invented things that are more efficient, take less manpower, kill more people, heal more people... in order to get that precious patent, and win awards. Friedman was an awarded economist, and for a reason. His Chicago boys traveled to places like Pinochet's Chile and successfully aided to heal the economy from a disastrous inflation. China's economic boom started with Deng Xiaoping being open to these ideas. And Estonia, an ex-Soviet-state, became known as The Baltic Tiger.
@@deesus1085 You're incorrect on almost all accounts, most especially with universal healthcare. Going back several thousand years, all villages and tribes had medicine men or physicians which were supported by the community so that everyone had access to healthcare. Whether that position was abused is a different conversation, but universal healthcare in a community setting is a consistent common denominator for several thousand years, and changes we've seen in that regard start to appear within relatively recent timeframes. We already have a system where everyone has rights to someone else's labor, we do that for attorneys for example, and they aren't struggling or going to the gulag.
@@deesus1085 To further expand, there are lots of ways innovation happens, it's safe to say that the predominant reason is necessity. The people who create those advancements, especially in the past, did so out of passion. I'm a power engineer that has read a few biographies on books Nikola Tesla, you're incorrect, he invented AC distribution out of passion, and the initial effort was financed because Westinghouse believed in it and was an enthusiast, not because he was expecting a bundle of money out of it. My friend and I have been working on our own electrical motor/generator because we love it, we're not doing it for any reward, so how does that fit in the world you described? The problem with how we teach kids, is that we over emphasize that the world must be rational, while discounting the fact that it is in fact often irrational. You can't possibly understand history and human psychology purely through the lens of economics. This is why Milton was delusional, and if you have the same view, you as well, unfortunately. You talking about innovation without investment is kind of obvious, every material innovation requires some material investment. You're basically saying no man is an island. Breakthroughs in thought or theory aren't anywhere near as intensive and can be achieved almost purely through effort without outside interference. You mentioning people being forced is hyperbole and not entirely supported by history. It's just a natural fact that humans are social and need to work together to achieve civilization, this is often out of necessity and desire to improve things so life gets easier. It hasn't really been until very recently where everyone's livelihood is attached to a monetary economy. I've spoken with Jon Jondai and he recalls that in Thailand as late as the 1960s, the majority of families outside of Bangkok didn't even have or use money. So you attributing innovation to compensation is a result of you viewing history through that lens, which isn't accurate.
Milton makes some great arguments here, I like how he delivers too... the problem though I see, especially in the states, is that if you just give poor people more breaks on taxes (for the purpose of hoping they spend it on healthcare), many will just buy more burgers instead of healthcare. Further increasing the problem of declining health and increased costs on the whole system. Wouldn't it be better if peoples healthcare and education were both improved and made readily accessible instead. Think about lotto winners, who lost everything they have in 2 years, and only end up worst off in the end. However that same lotto winner, instead is given an education in how to build up wealth slowly, will be much more likely to keep it.
In a system where freedom is valued, freedom to fail has to exist too. With freedom comes responsibility, and there will be growing pains. We can't smooth out the effects of people's bad life choices or they just keep doing it.
@DoctorCapitalist On a sidenote tho, you said : "Since there are no price/profit signals, this inevitably leads to shortages since allocating resources becomes extremely troublesome due to the lack of these vital signals which change the structure of production to generally what society desires most." If I understand you correct, this means that, if you don't have a capital competition, people won't care. That is the problem I'm talking about, without profit, nothing matters.
no, what he meant was negative income tax. UBI is where everyone, regardless of how much they make will receive a set amount negative income tax is a form of welfare where the people with low incomes would receive money back from the government based on % of their salary. people who work, despite a low income, will receive money from the govt to spend it on what they need the most instead of relying on the govt to go through many different middlemen to provide different form of welfare. The IRS would just need to collect income tax from those who qualify and give back to those who are in the negative tax bracket. this way, no one is left behind, and earning a small salary is always preferable to earning nothing.
Family -> Family outside the immediate family -> Religious community -> Non-religious community -> Local government -> State government -> Federal government
@paultheinept, and my answer was "how did they get it before the government became directly involved?" One, it was affordable and they either purchased it themselves or it was given to them in a form of charity. As for your system, the fact is that if someone here has insurance they NEVER die because of a failure of the system itself, i.e. having to wait for an MRI detecting a brain tumor, which has been documented in the UK and Canada.
1) because it is a moral obligation 2) because we are humans, not animals 3) no one is worthless, because all humans are immensely valuable, however different 4) because we all are different, we can all offer unique and indispensable perspectives of our own, on life 5) thus, all human lives are equal 6) because society never dispenses money according to virtue, in fact, it is quite arbitrary, how one thing is reqarded financially, another is not 7) because it is not a SERVICE, but an obligation.
I think the FDA needs to be pruned to the ground.. Some of the restricted life saving drugs which had demonstrated efficacy in Europe or in clinical trials but remained unavailable include:Beta blocking drugs in the 70's, Keytruda recently, medical devices for heart valves, and how many more.
To have a free market, you need to get rid of cartels, but to get rid of cartels, you need to reduce demand for cartel goods and services and/or increase the demand for alternatives to cartel-produced products. If the cartels have control over a commodity or other item due to the mechanism of profit through capital, and if they use that profit to manipulate government in their favor, how do you fix that?
kmarinas86 It's simple really, you heavily regulate the goverment to make it weak and make all interaction with other societal institutions illegal, that fixes the problem of corroption. Now the only control a coporation has it coersion through dependancy. This can simply be fixed by two things, opportunity and culture to prevent laziness and encourage free enterprise. The competition created by a unsatisfied customer base will soon cripple any organisation, because without the goverment the back them up in reality no organisation is too big to fail.
A successful implementation of Professor Friedman's philosophy depends upon person's being prepared for the market capable of making the best decisions, especially long-term. Underlying this is a highly developed sense of responsibility, something along the likes of a Horatio Alger type - as was Professor Friedman.
"While in elective and non-emergency care the patient can choose a physician after careful research, this ignores emergency care." I wait to see the day when doctors publish their rates for leukemia an elective treatment.
I live in Canada. The health care system is billiones in the whole and the wait times suck shit! 4 months for an mri, ct scan..... So no canadas health care is not better than private ins in the us ! Very big misconception!
ayhan bilgin So the constant increase in government involvement in healthcare constitutes as a failure of Capitalism? Interesting, do you get an education in economics for $7 as well?
Exactly! Since when did capitalism have government interference lol . I can not stand how ppl think capitalism fails in any respect when it's the government who messes it up by unnecessarily involving themsleves everytime! It is never any other reason than that !
First i've heard of it ! I live in Canada ! Ppl are so brainwashed into thinking government healthcare is amazing and free??!?!?!? Like their taxes don't pay for it it's hilarious . It is bankrupted and billions in the whole! My dad has cancer, he waits months for ct scans and mri ! Competetion breeds better pricing and quality ! But somehow ppl stupidly and ignorantly think that rule or economics does not apply to health care. Ppl are so blinded here it makes me sic . They have no clue our system is just everyone subsidizing everyone else! I'm 33 , ive been paying taxes my whole life for health care i barely used ! It makes me sic ! Ppl just do not want to even consider it will be cheaper if private . They choose to deny all logic even after properly explained and continue to think " government dont rip you off its health care".... Makes me sic they are freakin socialist at heart ! Most ppl are
***** Henry kissinger got Nobel peace Prize after killing 4-5 million in vietnam, cambodia, laos and about 1 million in chine and supporting the killing og 3 million people in east pakistan. Barrack Obama got Nobel peace prize, and invaded libya, Syria, and organized coup in Ukraine. Angus Deaton got Nobel prize in economics last year for doing nothing.
Dipak Basu You seemed to imply that Milton somehow deserved the Nobel Prize for "good work" and then go on to tell me how worthless the prize is? I agree, its worthless so why mention it?
@MarcLira66 Graduate school is not really taught by lectures. They are seminar based. It's very difficult to do advanced study remotely and still be able to engage in a discussion. Everyone would need to be online at the same time. The schools are already built. As far as "qualified professors go" obviously it's true that a lecture can be delivered online. It's already happening now.
I never said anyone can raise prices and not encourage competition. I said eliminate competition AND THEN raise the price. The point I am making with Google is in markets with high entry barriers, it will not attract rivals who will expand supply, cut prices, and spoil the seller’s market. We basically lucked out that Google has the budget to go into the market. There are plenty of other markets that collusion still occurs without a strong competing force and the monopoly or oligopoly continues.
By the way, at the time Milton was making this speech the UK and others had free at the point of entry government healthcare systems that were and remain way better than the desperate, unrealistic attempts at a free market versions in the US or indeed anywhere that Milton would argue for..why do these facts remain unacknowledged by Libertarians when proven to be true?
Haha, you must not be British, mate. I've been forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds to the NHS over the years, and I got bugger-all in return. Only once I've asked for an appointment with a specialist and I had to wait six months. The bloke was such an arrogant dick I just stood up and left.
@@chesshooligan1282 i am indeed from the UK, and personal accounts don't really count..as im sure Milton would agree. Look at the facts and statistics, they're out there and only a click away. Why is it that there's plenty of national healthcare systems that are free at the point of entry that are rated higher than the US or any potential free market version? Because as the facts show, free markets do don't solve all problems
@@alhazed I'm pretty sure my six-month wait counts as a statistic and a fact. I'm also sure having to take what I'm given is a fact. And the last time I checked, the NHS didn't rate higher than the US, but even if it did, I'm not bothered about a couple of percentage points in average quality. I'd rather have the choice and the freedom to see whatever doctor I choose whenever I choose. Here's a funny story: I used to have an NHS GP that I quite liked, but I moved houses half a mile away and I was struck off that GP's list by the NHS. I asked the my ex-GP if he did private visits, but he didn't, so I couldn't see him for all the money in the world. Absolutely crazy. Socialism sucks, and the NHS is like a bloody cult in the UK. I swear I'll never understand it.
@@chesshooligan1282 your statistic counts yes, but only as 1 in the experience of around 65 million people in the uk and of course then the uk nhs is compared to others around the world. On its own its called anecdotal evidence mate. You may have issues with it here 6 month wait, not being able to keep your doctor ect. But in the US, if you're poor you must die, insulin is massively overpriced, people are burdened with thousands of dollars of debt because they get sick, to want to that is a little insane, they don't even want that. Healthcare in the US is always a massive issue during voting for a reason. You may have issues with it, it may need improving, but going back to the good old days of no healthcare unless you can afford it is a little silly. As much as i acknowledge the need for free markets, it doesn't apply to every situation.
You can regulate the money you give to people but you can't regulate the people. What are you going to do if someone doesn't allocate their funds correctly and needs more money to buy necessities? What about someone who has one too many kids beyond their means and can't support them financially?
+maninthebox0 "What about someone who has one too many kids beyond their means and can't support them financially?" Then they die. Reality makes this a consequence at some point.There is no system that can be put into place that allows people to do whatever they want, make any number of mistakes, and still be "saved".
+maninthebox0 This is a good point and will inevitably happen but I think that the majority of poor people aren't irresponsible to that degree. Yes you'll have drug addicts, gamblers and mentally defunct peoples but you already have them in this current system, their kids are simply taken away from them. Sometimes we'll lock away a mentally ill person for their own safety, this is just a sad part of reality. If someone spends their "allowance" and can't afford to eat then they'll have to go to some sort of soup kitchen or rely on charity. Perhaps the next cheque they receive will be used more wisely. We can't, as a society, mollycoddle adults.
+Anonymouse Nobody in USA will be so poor and starve to death. you can get a job, there is ALWAYS a job. THere is almost no living human who can't offer a service that someone is willing to pay for. Even if you are working just for 50cents an hour, you could live and not die. Now the problem here is you go to jail because you are not being paid min wage....
***** No the point was more about mentally ill people, drug addicts, gamblers and other such people who are harmful to themselves. My point was that we have such people around today and that's not going to change anytime soon.
@danesesse "The fact is you cannot just give a random amount which actually we kind of do now." If that's what you were saying in the previous post, then I misunderstood, and completely agree with you on this point. Also, unless I've been misunderstanding Friedman for the last 20 years, I'd say he agreed as well.
The issue I come back to with privatised healthcare is the issue of what occurs in an emergency. When you have an accident and the ambulance comes and takes you in with the sirens blazing rushing through traffic, they can't stop and ask you which hospital you feel as a consumer will provide you the best service because your bleeding profusely from your face, they'll just take you to the nearest hospital, thus the idea that hospitals can work like a department store is ludicrous.
I agree, but whatever hospital they take you to, will still be affordable and quality due to the competition of the market. Also no system is perfect there are trade offs but free market is by far the best one there is. Believe me I'm in Canada, you don't want the government in control of your healthcare
@@chesshooligan1282 Useless NHS? What? I don’t know what source you’re using, likely Fox News or one you invented. I can’t find any information suggesting take home pay in the UK is half of that in the US, not to mention that even if that was true, which it isn’t, it’s a solitary stat which only a troglodyte could think tells a story. The simple fact is this, every liberal democracy on Earth has universal health care in some form or another. The US has a system where people sometimes need to choose between eating and seeing a doctor. In the richest nation on Earth that’s absurd.
Milton is only right if you believe that people are not corrupt and will always do the right thing. We know this is anything but true. This is why regulations exist and also why once we have regulations we need oversite to make sure they are being implemented. We deregulated and now we have an opiate addiction problem and consume 90% of the worlds prescription drugs and highest rates of depression in developed world as well as death during pregnancy
Sad. This man would be very sad to see what capitalism has become today. It has betrayed the concept of the free market as the ones with capital do everything within the law and outside to turn the game in their favour
soumya bhattacharjee Very true, however that isn't capitalism. Capitalism is the free market as it's simply the concept of running society by consentual trade between individuals. The mess we're in today is what liberalism leads too and is increasingly goijg towards socialism where it will pratically evolve into either communism or facism, most like the latter. As more organisations work together rather than againts each other, more oower get stripped away from the individual.
That's not really capitalism. In a capitalistic society government doesn't prop up any private business. This is more related to Keynesian economics. But even in that it's said to invest in infrastructure not give free money
Exactly maybe you should listen or read more of Rand or Friedman because plenty of times they mention the idea of separation between the economy and state. The fact of the matter we don't see this is separation that is necessary for a true free market so we get corporations influencing legislation or politicians inhibiting people from economic activity. If we had Friedman's way we would have a free market which would keep corporations and state separate inhibiting how much power they have.
Health is something you need to work for. 2004 I got out of prison, with $800 in my pocket, no job , no family, had kidney problems, I cleaned the warden's office and got sent to a halfway house. I bought work boots and tools. Start working within a week. Then work in the oil industry, then bought a car, and been working everyday until now. Hit the gym, sleep early, work everyday. I haven't even see a doctor for 15 years. Things are not free as they should never be. Every dollar spent, someone has to pay.
As much as I respect Friedman, his answer to the last question was atrocious. There is no justification for the government using its power for the compulsory confiscation and distribution of incomes. A negative income tax merely disguises the nature of the distribution but it is no different in principle. Friedman was a brilliant economist but he did not have a wider ideological context upon which to base his principles. He was a pragmatist. The audience applauded him at the end because he offered them a moral concession to the welfare state.
8:38 "We ought to have a program under which we ensure a minimum level of income, of spending, and then let people spend it the way they want." so he is for the Universal Basic Income? i'm a liberal and i approve his message =)
+captainplanet999 not really. friedman's negative income tax is a program from the right, and basic income is a program from the left, and they are different in their essence
mp517q I know I’m a little late, but negative income tax and basic income are very different. The difference: Negative Income tax does not destroy the incentive to work as a basic income would. Why? Negative Income Tax: A specific baseline would be determined (let’s say the poverty line) and the government would pay a respective person 50% of the resulting difference between the baseline and the person’s income. In other words, if the determined baseline is $10,000/year and the person makes $0, they’d be paid $5,000. However, if the person makes $4,000, they will be paid ($10,000-$4,000)*50% or $3,000 making the person’s yearly income $4,000+$3,000, or $7,000. It’s important that the person who has earned an income gets a higher total income than the person who does not. Otherwise there would be no incentive to work if they make below the baseline. For a basic income: The person who doesn’t work would be paid $10,000 resulting in a total income of $10,000, and the person who does work and earns an income of $4,000 would get paid $6,000 which would result in a total income of $10,000 also. There would be no reason/incentive for the person to work if they are making below the baseline.
JS Lavertu Who in this utopia will be taking orders at McDonald’s or feeding pigs at a farm. Who will do jobs that require unskilled labor? If they pay 8k a year, then they only get 2k from the government leaving them with 10k, but if they quit they get paid 10k from the government leaving them with……… 10k. Why work for anything less than the universal income? You wouldn’t.
In light of coronavirus, this is even more relevant. And of course with the recent rulings regarding Chevron difference, there is no such thing as a regulatory agency. They can only enforce the law as it is. Thank God the court is back in order.
@Theozzie11 I think you misunderstood the part of going to college. We live in the digital information age; you no longer need to be physically in a college classroom to get a higher education. This can drive the cost of college down enormously. But most institutions like the monopoly, so they oppose accreditation of distance learning colleges.
Can someone explain what he meant at minute 8:35? "We ought to have a program under which we assume a minimum level of income." Did he just say we should give poor people money?
+Antonio Vargas The idea is that instead of having welfare programs that allocate funds to people in need for specific purposes (i.e. healthcare subsidies, food stamps, medicare, etc.), we should use a negative income tax to bring all impoverished people to a base minimum income, then let those people decide how they want to spend their money. "Negative income tax" implies that instead of paying taxes, they receive tax money. Personally, I see problems with that, of course. For instance, there are some people who find themselves in precarious circumstances because they lack the education or self-control to spend their money wisely. Furthermore, some impoverished individuals may find more value in allocating monies for their children's education than their own healthcare. And yet if they get sick and go to the doctor, hospitals are obligated by law to treat. The patient cannot pay, the healthcare provider writes off the difference, and at the end of the year the healthcare provider adjusts prices to compensate, impacting the nation as a whole, not just in out-of-pocket healthcare prices, but also in insurance premiums. From another perspective, you could evaluate the circumstances necessary for the production of products or services which generate wealth. At the time this video was created, though today this is not necessarily the case, the production of products or services directly results from human effort. Humans require health, emotional stability, food, shelter, and other fundamental securities in order to successfully and effectively accomplish their efforts. I would argue that it is within the best interest of society as a whole to guarantee access to these fundamentals in adequate quality to ensure societal generation of wealth. This goes beyond current welfare programs. We still don't have an adequate healthcare system in the USA.
+Micah Henning You say " For instance, there are some people who find themselves in precarious circumstances because they lack the education or self-control to spend their money wisely." But what your also then saying is you want to live their lives or control their lives for them. Its not your responsibility or the Govt. to do that. They currently receive more money now than they should in welfare. Welfare encourages failure. We need to get them off of welfare and into a working status. If we promote control then we need to give more money to control as we have by welfare which again fails the individual to want to stay on the free money train. I agree with his theory on negative tax given to the individual to do as he or she feels...then if they ned something they will go out and earn it and get the skills...worrying about self control is not your worry. Plus they are adults..not children. Adults have to make up their own minds.
+Antonio Vargas You mean a basic income? That's what we need more than anything else! If Friedman was for a UBI to cover human necessities (with the trade off of eliminating welfare, etc.) I'd be behind him 110%! With technology becoming more and more prevalent, there's no reason for there not to be UBI.
+Micah Henning So you want a universal basic income? That's basically what you're advocating for at the end. Something that many leftists (oh the HORROR!) and SOCIALISTS (DFGSDIFG YSDIFBSDUKOLFGSDHKBF) are advocating for. I agree! 21st century societies should have a basic minimum income that every citizen gets as a RIGHT of being a CITIZEN (no illegal aliens). Then you eliminate poverty and allow people to work for what they want rather than the basics necessary to survive. Innovation and new products and services will explode since the penalty of failure will be lessened/eliminated.
+Samuel Fowler Oh, no sir, I don't think we should control anyone's choices. My comment was simply an observation that would make a negative income tax less effective, since the burden to society would remain, such as in my healthcare example.
I love how he makes the case for UBI and all the republicans applaud him. Can you Imagine a conservative saying today “what we need to do is give poor people more money and let them spend it as they wish,” only to be met with applause?!
As I'm read through the comments , I'm assuming 99% of the people here haven't taken Economics in college and probably gets their information from biases and wikipedia............................
I took micros and macros. They sucked. And whatever I learned, I've forgotten in a year. Because they shove raw info down your throat and expect you to pass meaningless exams. I only studied so that I can pass the exams, not learn economics. So did %90 of the class. So whatever your background is irrelevant. Instead of appealing to your pathetic authority, mount an argument to which you disagree. I 'learned' more from Friedman in ten minutes than the semesters I had to attend where losers narrated power points for a living. That's university level economics for you.
hmmm thats a good answer to the second question, although I do believe govt should still have a role in medicine as large govt contracts for lets say splints have huge bartering power to drive down the prices. But there should be no restrictions on private medicine.
Reasons to keep the Post Office 1) Private enterprise costs many times what the post office charges to deliver the mail. 2) In order to compete economically they would have to pay employees much less so they can pay their executives & stock holders. 3) This means the general public would have less money to spend causing a downturn in the economy. 4) Article I Section 8 Clause 7 of the US Constitution, empowers Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads". Are you a constitutionalist?
I think the major problem with Friedman's theories is that they don't take into account that we are human beings. His perfect economy would be great for computers though!
+Micah Henning Which aspect of what he says doesn't take humans into account? I actually think what you've just said is the opposite of the truth, Milton Friedman always looks at economics from the human perspective rather than some abstract theoretical level. Socialism ignores human beings and instead pushes ideals of equality despite human nature.
+Anonymouse I don't mean to compare his theories with socialism. I just think he gives people more credit than they warrant. For instance, if an impoverished person is sick and needs healthcare, providers (in the US) are required by law to treat them to a certain degree regardless of that person's ability to pay. It's generally accepted that instances like these in aggregate contribute to the rising costs of healthcare, which impacts everyone. It's the whole premise of the ACA's insurance coverage requirement. If we used Friedman's negative income tax model instead of subsidies and medicare, those who are impoverished aren't as likely to spend their unrestricted money on healthcare because they are likely to value many other things over that, like perhaps paying for their children's education. Further still there are some people who lack the self control to spend their money wisely. In any of these situations, the societal impact of their impoverished state is not mitigated.
+Micah Henning well the progression of science contradicts your claim against Friedman's theories. Humanity has strived to know more and gain more. This includes medical science in which people had the ambition/greed to increase their life expectancy. Did Sir Alexander Fleming find antibiotics just for nothing? No he wanted profit. That profit was a higher life expectancy and better medicine which he got by sacrificing his time and labor.
+kre8noys No, it's people like you who want the poor and middle class to be f*cked over by the "free market" who are the real sociopaths. Anyone who think health care and eeducation should not be a basic human right is a sociopath.
+kre8noys Naw. Socialism is an economic system which you find disagreeable. To impugn it is to make discourse on an appropriate system, or more agreeable system more difficult.
+kre8noys Wow, what a nice piece of rhetoric, if you say it often enough it's true. Most, if not all of Europe has a Socialist mixed economy and we're doing pretty nicely with it. In Britain and Norway the cops don't even feel the need for guns, we have free at the point of use health care and you call US sociopaths? I would laugh if it wasn't so tragic.
+Martin White I'm British, and I can well and truly confirm that socialism has ruined our beautiful continent. The whole of Europe is swinging to the right more than ever before.
Intuitivelogic As you might imagine I couldn't agree less. My definition being Social care and welfare in a mixed economy. If you believe that the poorest should have no home and little of no food, that the elderly should be cold and die early because of it, that children should go to school hungry. That sick people should go without medical care because they have no money? You're not in a position to *confirm" anything at all are you? What you have is a mere *opinion* with which I disagree vehemently.
The one thing that I would want to ask Friedman on medical expenditure, would be about the idea of socialized medicine like we have in Canada. I love the idea of a negative income tax and I think that it would do wonders for poverty. I also know that if Canada would take the medical responsibilities from the provinces and move it to the federal level, we as Canadians would pay less money in terms of pharma care and also other equipment and supplies, the reason being that the Federal government as the sole purchaser would have a larger buying and negotiating power on behalf of 38,000,000 people as opposed to an individual province who is sometimes purchasing for less than 200,000. There would be a higher savings on individual unit costs if the federal government was responsible in this regard. We know that hospitals in the states work with individual insurance companies to make sure that their company can offer the best deal to their customers, and in Canada, most private for profit medical insurance is illegal. Wouldn't a national insuror have the ability to make the prices as low as possible since everyone would be paying into it. Currently, each province distributes their own insurance, but if there is a national insurance, then it would be the same thing, but only cheaper. Additionally, we should certainly do away with the laws that make private insurance companies illegal, so that if they are wishing to offer an insurance that would be cheaper than paying into the national insurance, then they should be allowed to do so. As it stands in Canada, under 18 medical insurance is free. This makes sense since the person may not have a very good job or any job for that matter. So, excluding youth, the premiums are also free if one makes under a certain amount of money, I believe it is somewhere around $10,000USD a year. Under a negative income tax, they would get money, but probably wouldn't be paying too much in premiums if at all depending on what exactly the negative income tax was. Lets assume that it would be free for these people who are receiving the lion's share of the negative income tax in this hypothetical. In Canada, the more you make, the more you pay in premiums to health insurance as it is a form of progressive taxation. But practically everyone would want insurance regardless of whether it was offered by the government or by private insurors as we can tell by the ubiquitous rate of insurance policy holders in the US. Since healthcare is a necessity and having insurance is almost just as necessary, should their be a national health insurance offered by the government in the form similar to Canada's on top of the negative income tax? *Would love to hear your answers!*
Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions or property in geometrical progression as they rise. Thomas Jefferson
i love how he always smiles a little bit while he talks..
... because the joke is on you!
He seemed like someone who would've been cool to be around. I imagine he was a very kind person, as well as being very intelligent and educated.
A bit smug but you earns it
No homo???
To distract you from his BS.
When I was doing my senior thesis in economics 45 years ago, I came across Friedman's essay on the negative income tax, and how it would eliminate all the built-in incentives for poor behavior on the part of welfare recipients. The essay was already over 30 years old at the time I first saw it. Friedman wrote in around 1941, and accurately predicted all the unintended consequences the welfare system created; single-parent families, no incentive to join the labor market, etc. Not only was he prescient in looking at the future, he developed an alternative that made perfect sense. Brilliant man.
Heard of Andrew Yang?
He's rationale is very similar for the Freedom Dividend.
Not if you look at depression and suicide rates in subsidized native American communities.
It seems compassionate. But I've tried to mentor kids from those communities and it's just awful how they have surrendered ambition to the wind, knowing about the stipend
"Accurately predicted"? "Perfect sense"? Arrogant confidence was exactly the problem of the Economics discipline not the thoughts they preach. He was a very good speaker indeed and he had a lot of knowledge but he wasn't a Wizard and he surely didn't have a crystal ball. Try to look at his critics and proponents at the same time. In my opinion that is wiser than lionizing whatever our preferred preachers are. Confirmation bias is a hell of a drug and who knows to what extent it affects us and hardens our established views which might not make so much perfect sense after all...
Tito Santos Milton did accurately predict the negative consequences of the welfare state. No question. He studied history and foretold that it would repeat itself.
How does a negative income tax avoid these problems?
Friedman is so polite, humble, and rational. He never once forces his doctrine. He teaches people the truth like Socrates. He looks at the situation objectively and arrives at a rational conclusion.
andreas aristeus What makes you think that? Have you actually read Socrates? He did not care about morality and he took a centrist view of politics, which he generally steered away from. In Socrates' mind the most important ideal was to be consistent with himself. Even though his closest friends could have broken him out of prison and let him live, he chose to abide by an unjust punishment just because it was the law. He did not care about ultimate justice or morality; all that mattered was whether or not the law was upheld. For, he reasoned, if he did not obey the law, it would certainly send the message to the rest of society that disobedience was acceptable and that would lead to chaos in society.
So, no, Socrates cared little for justice. We do credit Socrates, however, for fathering logical reasoning, but not a moral person. Don't be fooled by Plato either. Even though he wrote Plato's Republic, he actually advocated a monarchy.
andreas aristeus ...You're on the internet. You can google what their thoughts were. Don't act as if not having a book is preventing you.
Still think socialized health care works better...
XD you know you've lost the debate when you cite Cuba as having better conditions than America
STOP FUCKING YELLING!!!!!!!!!!
Imagine if Milton went on JRE. The internet would explode... if only.
Just imagine.
I’m fed up with JR
Being interested in smart people doesn't make someone smart. Joe Rogan wouldn't be a good interviewer for Milton.. he just doesn't know enough and he isn't smart enough.
48956l Fair point, but at least a much larger audience would get exposed to Milton’s viewpoints
@@lucastyler5549 That's true, and in any case I'm sure whatever silly thing Joe would ask him would at least end up being funny lol
"So Milton.. you ever try DMT and consider your own mortality? We're just all monkeys man"
Every time I watch a Friedman video I am humbled by his brilliance, clarity and good humour. What an absolute treasure
We need a Friedman right now really bad.. I don't know one politician or economist that can debate any topic and win like he did.
Thomas Sowell
Mike Blain Yeah but he's kinda boring now days, not that he's not as smart but this Milton guy is so calm and cool and gets people to listen in ways most can't.
Tom Smith Sowell's just old. Friedman wasn't as exciting as he used to be when he himself got old too lol.
Ever hear of Ron Paul?....
Rocky Yep I like him too but he's not as smooth as Friedman was back in the 70's and 80's. Paul gets kinda fired up, goes on rants etc.. Friedman to me, could make anybody look like a fool in a debate.
Milton Friedman is my favorite non-Austrian economist. Not only was he a strong proponent of the efficiency markets, he was also a strong advocate of libertarianism and human freedom.
Interesting, but….Here is why Milton Friedman’s ideas are nonsense. Look what’s happened to Chile and the US after 40 years of tax cuts for the rich and corporations, austerity, cutting social programs, deregulation, privatization, free trade etc.
The USA is now the most highly unequal industrialized country in the world with the highest incarceration rate in the world, on the other hand, Scandinavian countries shut down 24 prisons due to lack of crime. All this inequality and poverty started with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan promoted Milton Friedman’s policies. Conservatives like to accuse the left of a wealth transfer, what they don’t tell you is that there has already been a wealth transfer from the poor and middle-class to the rich to the tune of about $50 trillion while wages for the poor and middle class have been flat.
This is according to Ronald Reagan’s own budget director David Stockman, who now regrets implementing supply side austerity free market policies, he states this: “In 1985, the top five percent of the households - the wealthiest five percent - had net worth of $8 trillion - which is a lot. Today, after serial bubble after serial bubble, the top five per cent have net worth of $40 trillion. The top five percent have gained more wealth than the whole human race had created prior to 1980.”
People need to understand that there are two kinds of dominant economists out there now, one is conservative free market supply side economist and the other is the progressive demand-side economist. Conservative supply side economics policies have been proven not to work over and over again, yet the rich and conservatives still promote them.
The reason people in Detroit are being poisoned with leaded water is precisely because of Friedman’s idea that big government is evil and his idea that everything should privatized. The reason Detroit is in shambles economically is precisely because of his free trade policies.
Government for the people by the people is the only thing that prevents it from being overtaken by the rightwing rich and corporations, which is precisely what’s happened to the US after conservative policies got rid of regulations/laws that prevented unlimited funding to politicians and specifically Republicans get most of the money. Big government is the only thing that prevents governments from being bought out. The US was bought and sold over four years ago, this is why it’s currently on the brink of revolution.
“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”
- Benito Mussolini
Milton Friedman stated that his free market policies would produce democracy, this certainly did not happen in Chile. The economy in Chile worked wonderfully for the top u1% of course. If Friedman‘s ideas were so wonderful, why did the Chilean people reject his policies? The Chilean people should be jumping up and down in the streets praising Milton Friedman, yet they are rioting.
The economy in Chile worked wonderfully for the top 1% of course. If Friedman‘s ideas were so wonderful, why did the Chilean people reject his policies? The Chilean people should be jumping up and down in the streets praising Milton Friedman, yet they are rioting in the streets.
Statistically, 80% of the Chilean people have no money left at the end of the month. 33% of Chilean GDP goes to the 1%, that’s higher than almost anywhere else in the world.
The propaganda that the middle class in Chile has grown under Milton Friedman’s policies is nonsense. A person making $180 per month in Chile is categorized as being middle class, for a family of four its around $630 per month. The richest 20% of Chilean people make approximately just over $900 to $1,100 per month. This is how propaganda from conservative rightwing think tanks like the Cato Institute, Liberty Pen, Free To Chose etc skew the data to make Milton Friedman look good.
Just like the US healthcare is privatized in Chile and most people don’t have access to it because they can’t afford it. Utilities have been privatized and they are expensive. Over 80% percent of the Chilean people want Milton Friedman’s/Pinochet’s policies reversed.
In terms of healthcare, approximately 700,000 people In the US go bankrupt because they can’t afford private healthcare or they are turned down because of pre-existing conditions. Approximately 50,000 Americans die each year because they can’t afford healthcare. Ron Paul who’s a fan of Milton Friedman, stated that he thought that it was ok if someone just died in front of a hospital if they can’t afford healthcare because they were disabled or just had a run of bad luck. Ron Paul later backtracked and said “well there’s always the churches” which is bullshit. How many people die or go bankrupt in France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Finland etc. etc, ZERO.
For your own good, my advice is not to listen in Milton Friedman. Looking forward to your replies.
yes but he always was quite about the work and sacrifice of kings and religious christians that made that possible
@@KingScorpio84the hell are you talking about??😂
Ah, it's so refreshing getting 'out-of-the-box' with Milton. How inspiring he is amazes me. If I ever feel depressed, he always buoys my spirit!
Netflix should make a series about the life and ideas of this brilliant man. It’d surely be so educational for our families nowadays.
They will never do that.. they have a different agenda
They will never do that.
Netflix would make a film about the ideas and life's work of Milton Friedman from a Marxist Leninist perspective. Be careful what you ask for.
Also you'll probably find it an easier sell if you try getting the Daily Wire to do it. At least they won't lie and advance a Communist perspective.
They're too busy trying to get the rights to whatever new child drag queen show comes out.
@@destubae3271you are such a lame loser haha
Q: What do you call the person who graduates last in their class at med school?
A: Doctor.
What on earth does that have to do with government medical care?
@@miketheman4341 government regulated licensure. Watch the entire video
Kyle Shy
Again what does that have to do with the crisis of national HC? Meaning that if government did not have standards and licensing our medical crisis would not exist? Do you have any research credentials in any related scholarly field? Any at all?
SpringDreams2
According to whom? Do you any idea what standards exist in the licensing process? Any at all? That old joke is just that. Finishing last in your Harvard Medical school class is still Harvard medical school. This means you have managed to meet the higher criteria than a mid range state school where you could finish in the top 20%. Lastly there are a half dozen protocols in place that test doctors knowledge base before becoming a licensed doctor and after.
Steve Jovan well but to become a doctor you don't have to graduate from Harvard see. There are plenty of other schools. And let's say you got into Harvard not by your ability but by pockets. Does that also still count? Let's then again presume that you didn't have to go to Harvard to get licensed, nor any other school for that matter. The only people that will now come to you will only come based on your abilities, not by your "license". These abilities will show themselves by competition with other doctors, just as everything in every non regulated field. Success therefore grants you a license and success is the ultimate guarantee that you are able. Not a license which most anyone can aquire if he goes towards that goal. Our schooling systems are not built in a way that make the most intelligent people have the best grades. They have good grades yes but the best grades are held by those who work hard and to work hard you usually need a goal to work towards. That means that at the end of the day it is possible to become licensed in a field which is looking for the most intelligent people without being the most intelligent. This would never happen with honest competition and without intervention. Seems like a good joke to me
it’s inspiring hearing a wise man serving well founded arguments. It’s simply refreshing.
A small man can cast a very large shadow.
Varys to Tyrion
He was small in stature but large in presence!
Absolutely amazing.
Realistic ideas with realistic answers. It is one thing to focus on practicality but it is a whole other thing to give and maintain practicality.
Milton Friedman really is a glorious wonder in how he manifests and articulates his answers to the questions he is given
Fabulous. Doesn't try to browbeat, intimidate, mock or humiliate the person he is debating. Listens and considers the question at hand. Then formulates a considered and measured reply. So classy and dignified.
I watched his PBS series Free To Choose when I was a teen and was so impressed that I attended the University of Chicago for grad school. He was no longer there but many of the professors who did their theses and training under him were my instructors. That was the greatest learning experience in my life.
When my head's about to explode from all the political talk, particularly Obamacare right now, I like to go back to Dr. Friedman to get my bearings straight again. Works every time.
That's exactly what I do.
What do you mean? Friedman himself and his ideas are to blame for the dictatorships in south america in the 60s 70s and 80s
@@soapmactabitch1970 I'd like to hear your rationale for that statement.
@@buckfan1969
You think the Affordable Care Act is bad??!
@@lucasm4299 Yes I do. Medical costs have increased at 4 times the inflation rate for 50 years. Instead of figuring out why that's happened, and addressing it, they just spent more money to make a horrible business model bigger. And of course the escalation of costs continued due to increased demand. If they'd addressed the inability to buy insurance across state lines, and addressed tort reform it might have worked. But they didn't and the cost escalation continues.
0:25 Thoughts on FDA?
1:33 Licensing?
2:35 License is no assurance of quality
7:20 "The label of good housekeeping is not the same thing"
Isn't it funny that they are just things that make people feel good.
At then end when she’s like good answer, I’m like good for her.
Like.
I would be humbled to ever have spoken to this man.
The answer to the threat of free market "monopoly" or "cartel" is to create a government sponsored monopoly or cartel. The logic is sound.
Pixics.com 1. there is no free market and 2. the market produces monopolies you idiot
Shinsuke Hawkman
A free market rarely creates monopolies in major industries. Monopolies in major industries usually exist in industries where pubic land is heavily used, and government intervenes to create local monopolies - utilities, telephone companies, cable companies etc.
Sometimes natural monopolies do arise - like Standard Oil, and I suppose you might argue Microsoft.
Neither of those hurt the public interest though. Standard Oil made prices lower for the consumer. They lost a propaganda campaign backed by bitter failed competitors, but they weren’t bad for the public. Rockefeller was able to sell at lower prices, and thus expanded.
But even after getting 90% market share, he kept prices very low. Because he knew if he raised prices, other businessmen with lots of money would enter into competition with him, as the potential profits would allow this. If there had been a government sponsored monopoly, he would’ve been able to raise prices. Because of the free market, he had to keep prices low, or his monopoly would’ve ended due to competition. This was happening anyway - Standard Oil market share was drastically reduced by the time their monopoly was broken up; they weren’t really a monopoly anymore then.
Microsoft also didn’t engage in high prices. They wouldn’t have become so ubiquitous if they had. Gary Kildall could’ve become Bill Gates (the story is legendary in Silicon Valley), but he priced his OS - considered superior to DOS - way too high. So nobody bought it.
Microsoft consolidating the OS industry was a good thing. Just imagine if there had been a half dozen equally popular OSes, and people would’ve needed to port a software to all of them. Making software would’ve been a lot more expensive, and more time consuming. Instead publishers could just focus on making a quality product for one OS, or maybe two (Apple).
Natural monopolies are not bad, and they are never safe - if you have no government protection and raise prices too high, other rich fuckers will inevitably see dollar signs and compete with you.
It’s government backed monopolies where prices are kept high. Look how expensive landlines still are.
Solan K what about natural monopolies on resources? Like biers corporation for diamonds. the threat from outside competition springing up is no longer there and they raised the price of diamonds unnaturally higher than if the mines were in competition on the free market.
havenotchosenyet
That’s a good point, De Beer’s was indeed a monopoly for a while (though it isn’t any longer).
But the idea that De Beer’s monopoly raised prices doesn’t really hold up, because prices have actually risen significantly after the monopoly has ended (www.kitco.com/ind/Zimnisky/2013-06-06-A-Diamond-Market-No-Longer-Controlled-By-De-Beers.html). Prices have also become way more volatile - apparently De Beers used to hold stocks in reserve to keep prices stable, but can no longer do that.
You could argue that correlation doesn’t imply causation, and that if De Beer’s had maintained its monopoly, prices would be even higher. But, that seems very unlikely.
And of course diamonds are hardly a vital resource. Also if diamond prices rise too high, the market would likely shift to other precious stones. Or just buy smaller diamonds. It is extremely hard, perhaps impossible, to price gouge when it comes to luxuries.
Solan K I agree that diamonds aren't important,but that's not the point, the high prices for diamonds are a temporary thing,since de beers had to restrict supply to keep prices up and the new companies have to do the same to get a return on their investment,but this state is pretty unstable because looking at the demand and (potential unrestricted) supply the price should slowly fall..
De beers also started the culture of the diamond engagement ring,thank God diamonds aren't a vital resource because if it was they could pump up the price way higher.if it was something like petroleum(it never got close to a resource monopoly ) it would have seriously changed the American landscape since it was sculpted by the automobile.
My mind is more and more blown with every vid I see of this man. Wish I could have met him
My God ,he deconstructed the organised medicine system so well
"Assure a minimum level of income and let people spend it the way they want."
And so it begins ...
I have lots of problems with that from an ideological standpoint. But, the fact is we are bankrupting our country with big gobmint. Negative Income Tax would save billions, possibly trillions, in the first year by sending direct payments to people from the IRS system. How? By eliminating all of the other federal “welfare” depts that employee thousands of people who cost us way too much money to simply divvy up funds according to different qualifications. Direct cash payments will shrink the size, scope, and power of the fed gobmint. And that will be going in the right direction.
@@dltnsdd The only welfare bureau we need is the IRS, and the only regulatory bureau we need is the FBI.
Publius Syrus I tend to agree with you on that.
I worry a negative income tax or a form of UBI would get absorbed by landlords increasing their rents... I guess you could buy property but don’t think it’s crazy to assume prices won’t spike there as well...
Oscar Obando All prices will go up, in every industry. That’s one of the negative consequences of having Gobmint redistribute wealth.
Just found these videos, I wish I knew of this man earlier
Very well said! This mans voice needs to be heard today!
What he says is extremely accurate in all trades. I can't begin to tell you how many people get ripped off by "Licensed" anyone. I know a lot of you have had to clean up messes from "licensed" people. Hell, a drivers license doesn't even make a good driver.
Started with free market, ended with redistribution of wealth... You're free to make charity to a poor if you wish, but please spend your own money only, don't steal from others , don't force, don't rob people. Centralized bureaucratic government charity via robbery is not working, it causes much more harm than good.
Trying to help poor people through government is exactly like trying to help people through charity except that charity happens to be the least efficient charity company ever created.
Piotr Nowacki "Charity through government" is an oxymoron, it's the opposite of charity. Charity means giving voluntarily, taxation means taking forcefully. Bureaucrats don't know who should be helped, in what amount, and when the help should be stopped.
Taxation of manufacturers puts most of the burden on the poorest - the consumers and the workers, who are paying ALL the taxes. Redistribution of wealth only drives the prices up, harming the poorest most.
Taxation of businesses increases entry barriers to a markets, thus provoking monopolisation.
I know it's an oxymoron but many people see it exactly as such.
Out of curiosity, if we implemented an unfettered free market approach towards the poor whereby only those who prefer to give end up giving, and the poverty situation worsens (Dickensian England, people in squalor dying on the streets, people dying of respiratory diseases, exposure and so forth) then would you be willing to reconsider government intervention?
gerard pacificar The problem with that is when you first rip off the bandaid it's going to hurt..but then it heals. Of course once we convert to a free market system shits going to go down hill. But it'll reach a point where it gets better. And if you gave in and took the governments help then you're being completely counter productive.
Would be interesting to get Friedman's take on where we are today including Obamacare . . .
He would have a heart attack
He suggested that a better method would be direct cash transfers to enable people to buy insurance. Republicans would likely freak out at the idea of giving cash to poor people. Wanna try that instead? Most liberals would be in favor. In addition that still doesn't solve the problems of 1) pre-existing conditions 2) irresponsible people expecting emergency treatment. I never heard Freedman get asked the question of the uninsured 20-year-old who needs life-saving intervention. That's what I'd like to hear.
he would for the first time, be speachless and unable to respond. probably rolling over in his grave as we speak.
It kinda is. But I agree on Friedman's policy. That would be a more balanced capitalist system where working and unemployed people have their basic needs covered, as health for example.
YManCyberDude if he suddenly wakes up when Obamacare is still implemented, he would rather die again.
Why is it so satisfying to look at him speak?
You see the confident operation of mind that truly understands the variety of factors involved and is simply sharing.
One way of knowing you'll get good healthcare is through private certification. In the field of computer Power Supplies you see "80 Plus" certification labels on many PSUs. Any consumer who purchases these products most likely check for this certification as they don't want to take the risk of having their PC parts being ruined.
Anti free market? Well let me make your decisions for you then.
😂😂
God bless this wonderful man.
Why is everyone an adult? This is like a movie.
what? lmao what do you think this is?
@@pearz420 what do you mean
Agreed. I think the reason this subject is be brought up is because inflated real estate prices came out of government involvement and inflation is already being seen in college tuition and health care programs. If I can support any government involvement it is limiting private insurance companies ability to discriminate against preexisting conditions and age groups. Recent legislation does not address health costs just price which leads to taxation and inflation and then bankruptcy.
I first read his treatise on the Negative Income Tax about 40 years ago. It's obvious you've never read what he was describing. It's not a sales tax; it eliminates the counterproductive disincentives to improve oneself that are built into the current AFDC systems, administers it much more efficiently, and eliminates a huge amount of administrative waste in the process.
the greatest mistake Friedman ever made was to assume that the average person is as rational as he is.
The problem is insurance. You can give money to people to pay for medical care if they want. But why not just cut insurance out of the picture completely. I live in a country with universal health care. The government pays for everything. The result is a system that's very conscious on keeping costs down and healthcare outcomes high. It wants people to be better because it will cost down in the long run. The private insurance system in the United States is the exact opposite. It wants people to remain not well to keep costs high.
Government healthcare is terrible. The government just gets lobbied by pharma, so they want you sick to make money off of you, they also don't want you healthy because they can keep taxing more and more. The problem is third parties in general. Go with a health savings account and watch as healthcare workers compete for cash and the quality goes up due to competition, not to mention accountability.
In this world you get what you get on your own. It will never be an equal or fair world. There will always be rich and poor. I believe in the free market because it has worked. I was born dirt poor in a broken/abusive home and I have been able, through my own efforts, to become wealthy. At no time did I ever receive assistance from government or family. In this world it is human ingenuity, hard work, and attitude that generate success. If prosperity eludes people it is trough their wrong efforts
I see this videos and it is like we are getting dumber nowadays and I don't mean just hearing Mr Friedman but even the smart and rational questions asked, everyone is so polite and don't speak over anyone
The problem you describe is only a problem from a statist paradigm. In a free market, you would choose in advance which dispatcher, or arrange in advance which hospital you use.
Also without government "regulation" there would and could be inexpensive clinics that specialize in stabalisation.
At the moment most of your bill goes to feeding government "regulators" and compliance, government "regulations" prevent specialization which eliminates competition and market growth to meet demand.
Friedman is casually devastating. I cannot imagine being able to construct arguments in such a sublime way.
OMG. I made the mistake of reading some comments. If there were a market for stupidity, you could scoop up enough in a day to retire.
Let me guess..the stupid comments were the ones supporting the United States constitution and the Bill of Rights, not non-democratic authoritarian corporate oligarchic fascism.
Beta K
Quite the contrary. The constitution was written for people like you and me to understand and enforce. It is not a "living" document the meaning of whose words is subject to change by whoever whores and pimps his/her way into power. It didn't give us rights; it took some away. We had our rights before the constitution was conceived, we have them now and we'll have them when it's returned to dust. Freedom is not electing our masters and a country is not free because the government is free to do whatever it wants, selling itself to big business (fascism) or to labor (socialism). But neither can freedom be separated from responsibility. Oh, that's enough. Go read Thomas Sowell. He writes better than I do and I've got a lot of other plates to spin (see Ed Sullivan).
J D Smith If the Constitution is not a living document then it's woefully deficient in accounting for future behavior.
"The framers of the Constitution wisely spoke in general lan- guage and left to succeeding generations the task of applying that language to the unceasingly changing environment in which they would live...Merely because a particular activity may not have existed when the Constitution was adopted, or because the framers could not have conceived of a particular method of transacting affairs, cannot mean that general language in the Constitution may not be applied to such a course of conduct. Where the framers of the Constitution have used general language, they have given latitude to those who would later interpret the instrument to make that language applicable to cases that the framers might not have foreseen."
Rehnquist, The Notion of a Living Constitution. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 29(2) p.402
So what are some of THE stupid comments [retiree]
More Friedman dribble... We now see the results of unregulated for profit healthcare, and unregulated Monopoly I vast numbers.
The founders were aristocratic slave owners. The Constitution represented their window into their society and they knew it; thus, the amendment process was written in to ADAPT the Constitution.
I think the best solution is a two tier system like in Singapore, Sweden or France. Where the system still provides some form of Public health care, but opens itself up to private providers to compete with the public system for contracts. This in turn increases efficiency and returns the revenue savings back to both sectors. Sweden was able to drastically reduce its hospital wait times by adopting a two-tier system. As for Singapore, it has one of the most efficient and least costly healthcare systems in the world.
Problem with Singapore is government is extremely hands on with everything but the economy. People go to prison for making youtube videos.
Morphing Reality Yeah, I think that if Singapore had the same amount of political freedom as it had economic freedom. It would be the perfect modern society. Like I can understand why Lee Kwan Yew used authoritarianism to build Singapore during its infancy, but I think now those authoritarian practices can be slacked since Singapore is now a wealthy and prosperous society.
The problem with a two-tier system is that the people who choose private health care stil has to pay for the public health care.
Xenjih At least the cost themselves are maintained sustainable levels that way. Its by far the most affordable system of Healthcare for a society as a whole.
Hmm I'm not convinced... Definitely not the worst though.
I'm going into the pharmacy profession (hopefully!) and i think that there is a need for an objective body to certify medical professionals, set the standard of courses and regulate. The GPhC does a fine job of this without taxes and government though, it's completely voluntary
I've been watching this for 11 years now just about... I have developed a tick and a hard affirmation for rationality.
The opening always catches me off guard and I think I'm in an earthquake
(I'm using headphones)
we need Friedman. the person has saved more people through persuading govt adopt free market. good plz send Friedman again to liberate humanity fro clutches of monopoly and govt control
There was already a Friedman and people didn't listen, and we have the recordings too, and people don't listen, and some people still preach today the same things he said, and people still don't listen.
Jesus told a story where a wicked rich man who spent his days in pleasure and didn't regard the poor ended up in the Hell of the old Testament, and, looking in the distance, he saw Abraham and asked him to send someone from the dead to his brothers to warn them so that they wouldn't end in Hell too. Abraham told him that those brothers should listen to the prophets of old, but the man insisted so Abraham told him this:
[Gospel of Luke (King James Version) 16:31] And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Look up the whole story in Luke 16:19-31
People are wicked and dumb, they want their socialist pipedream bad and they don't care.
Also, they want many other bad things, like whores and porn, drugs, sodomite marriage, free abortion, public indecency, wide open borders into western countries, and many other evil wicked things. IF there was ever a time when just fixing economics could restore our ill societies, that time is long past, I'm afraid.
@Nonso Okonkwo anarchism and capitalism are different
@Nonso Okonkwo Free market doesn't mean stealing. you are confusing Usa's policies towards other countries as capitalism. it's not.
USA isn't even in the top when it comes to economic freedom. it's hong kong.
can everyone her please just calm down, you are obviously not going to convince each other by calling each other idiots
idiot
idiot
Here's the thing about health care. It can work as a single payer system. It can also work as a market based system the way Dr. Friedman envisions it, especially with his answer at the end about providing care for the impoverished. It can't work as a monopoly with state and industry generated barriers to entry and lack of competition. Wherever there's a monopoly on something people value heavily, it begs for regulation and eventually nationalization.
The reason is that there is a bureucratic structure composed entirely from doctors who decide the standards of being a doctor, which is generally very high than one can imagine, and also who have a considerable impact on the number of medical schools which is, as easily seen, positively correlated with the number of doctors. By this way, the shortage of doctors become persistent in the economy and hence doctors earn twice/third as much as they are able to earn under no licensure economy.
The consistent problem with Friedman is that what he always talks about never exists. The same with how people talk about ideal socialism or how it hasn't existed yet in it's ideal form.
It's like he intentionally only talks like the market will do ideal things instead of cronyism. It's a fact that if wealth equals power, the game won't be played fair by anyone. Like don't ensure health care for everyone? That's the literal meaning of civilization itself, is to come together to bolster each other. And it's like he fails to recognize that most of what we use was thought up of and developed by scientists and physicists who weren't interested in the market, they did it out of obsession and passion. The market took those ideas and then started selling them, but those physicists aren't properly compensated for their contributions. Incremental revisions come from the market, and normally ones that still promote planned obselesence - another distortion in Milton's "free market". It's easy to manufacture, it's damn challenging to developed AC distribution, or create the original steam engine or combustion engine, and those people weren't chasing the market.
All in all Friedman and his Chicago boys are delusional at best and destructive at worst, but every once and a while he's got ideas that aren't pie in the sky.
Those are good points. It's true that, for example Tesla was a genius full of passion for his work. But many scientists invented things that are more efficient, take less manpower, kill more people, heal more people... in order to get that precious patent, and win awards.
Friedman was an awarded economist, and for a reason. His Chicago boys traveled to places like Pinochet's Chile and successfully aided to heal the economy from a disastrous inflation. China's economic boom started with Deng Xiaoping being open to these ideas. And Estonia, an ex-Soviet-state, became known as The Baltic Tiger.
@@deesus1085 You're incorrect on almost all accounts, most especially with universal healthcare.
Going back several thousand years, all villages and tribes had medicine men or physicians which were supported by the community so that everyone had access to healthcare. Whether that position was abused is a different conversation, but universal healthcare in a community setting is a consistent common denominator for several thousand years, and changes we've seen in that regard start to appear within relatively recent timeframes.
We already have a system where everyone has rights to someone else's labor, we do that for attorneys for example, and they aren't struggling or going to the gulag.
@@deesus1085 To further expand, there are lots of ways innovation happens, it's safe to say that the predominant reason is necessity. The people who create those advancements, especially in the past, did so out of passion.
I'm a power engineer that has read a few biographies on books Nikola Tesla, you're incorrect, he invented AC distribution out of passion, and the initial effort was financed because Westinghouse believed in it and was an enthusiast, not because he was expecting a bundle of money out of it.
My friend and I have been working on our own electrical motor/generator because we love it, we're not doing it for any reward, so how does that fit in the world you described? The problem with how we teach kids, is that we over emphasize that the world must be rational, while discounting the fact that it is in fact often irrational.
You can't possibly understand history and human psychology purely through the lens of economics. This is why Milton was delusional, and if you have the same view, you as well, unfortunately.
You talking about innovation without investment is kind of obvious, every material innovation requires some material investment. You're basically saying no man is an island. Breakthroughs in thought or theory aren't anywhere near as intensive and can be achieved almost purely through effort without outside interference. You mentioning people being forced is hyperbole and not entirely supported by history. It's just a natural fact that humans are social and need to work together to achieve civilization, this is often out of necessity and desire to improve things so life gets easier.
It hasn't really been until very recently where everyone's livelihood is attached to a monetary economy. I've spoken with Jon Jondai and he recalls that in Thailand as late as the 1960s, the majority of families outside of Bangkok didn't even have or use money. So you attributing innovation to compensation is a result of you viewing history through that lens, which isn't accurate.
Milton makes some great arguments here, I like how he delivers too... the problem though I see, especially in the states, is that if you just give poor people more breaks on taxes (for the purpose of hoping they spend it on healthcare), many will just buy more burgers instead of healthcare. Further increasing the problem of declining health and increased costs on the whole system. Wouldn't it be better if peoples healthcare and education were both improved and made readily accessible instead. Think about lotto winners, who lost everything they have in 2 years, and only end up worst off in the end. However that same lotto winner, instead is given an education in how to build up wealth slowly, will be much more likely to keep it.
In a system where freedom is valued, freedom to fail has to exist too. With freedom comes responsibility, and there will be growing pains. We can't smooth out the effects of people's bad life choices or they just keep doing it.
@@edheldude All the misery that can happen to a person is the result of bad choices? Some say this as a cover, others believe it.
Ah...... common sense, how refreshing to hear, even on old videos.
Logical arguments. Ties together nicely.
@DoctorCapitalist On a sidenote tho, you said : "Since there are no price/profit signals, this inevitably leads to shortages since allocating resources becomes extremely troublesome due to the lack of these vital signals which change the structure of production to generally what society desires most."
If I understand you correct, this means that, if you don't have a capital competition, people won't care. That is the problem I'm talking about, without profit, nothing matters.
sounded like he was advocating for UBI at the end
totaly! Can anyone find more of this topic from him?
no, what he meant was negative income tax.
UBI is where everyone, regardless of how much they make will receive a set amount
negative income tax is a form of welfare where the people with low incomes would receive money back from the government based on % of their salary.
people who work, despite a low income, will receive money from the govt to spend it on what they need the most instead of relying on the govt to go through many different middlemen to provide different form of welfare. The IRS would just need to collect income tax from those who qualify and give back to those who are in the negative tax bracket.
this way, no one is left behind, and earning a small salary is always preferable to earning nothing.
*Human health is Not a commodity*
No but health services are.
the problem with poverty is money!
Family -> Family outside the immediate family -> Religious community -> Non-religious community -> Local government -> State government -> Federal government
@paultheinept, and my answer was "how did they get it before the government became directly involved?" One, it was affordable and they either purchased it themselves or it was given to them in a form of charity. As for your system, the fact is that if someone here has insurance they NEVER die because of a failure of the system itself, i.e. having to wait for an MRI detecting a brain tumor, which has been documented in the UK and Canada.
1) because it is a moral obligation 2) because we are humans, not animals 3) no one is worthless, because all humans are immensely valuable, however different 4) because we all are different, we can all offer unique and indispensable perspectives of our own, on life 5) thus, all human lives are equal 6) because society never dispenses money according to virtue, in fact, it is quite arbitrary, how one thing is reqarded financially, another is not 7) because it is not a SERVICE, but an obligation.
Friedman was a great mind
I think the FDA needs to be pruned to the ground.. Some of the restricted life saving drugs which had demonstrated efficacy in Europe or in clinical trials but remained unavailable include:Beta blocking drugs in the 70's, Keytruda recently, medical devices for heart valves, and how many more.
To have a free market, you need to get rid of cartels, but to get rid of cartels, you need to reduce demand for cartel goods and services and/or increase the demand for alternatives to cartel-produced products. If the cartels have control over a commodity or other item due to the mechanism of profit through capital, and if they use that profit to manipulate government in their favor, how do you fix that?
legalize
kmarinas86 It's simple really, you heavily regulate the goverment to make it weak and make all interaction with other societal institutions illegal, that fixes the problem of corroption. Now the only control a coporation has it coersion through dependancy. This can simply be fixed by two things, opportunity and culture to prevent laziness and encourage free enterprise. The competition created by a unsatisfied customer base will soon cripple any organisation, because without the goverment the back them up in reality no organisation is too big to fail.
No echo.Take it for what its worth thats what i said and i stand by it.
A successful implementation of Professor Friedman's philosophy depends upon person's being prepared for the market capable of making the best decisions, especially long-term. Underlying this is a highly developed sense of responsibility, something along the likes of a Horatio Alger type - as was Professor Friedman.
"While in elective and non-emergency care the patient can choose a physician after careful research, this ignores emergency care."
I wait to see the day when doctors publish their rates for leukemia an elective treatment.
I live in Canada. The health care system is billiones in the whole and the wait times suck shit! 4 months for an mri, ct scan..... So no canadas health care is not better than private ins in the us ! Very big misconception!
ayhan bilgin So the constant increase in government involvement in healthcare constitutes as a failure of Capitalism? Interesting, do you get an education in economics for $7 as well?
Hah, I can't wait for the day I see people of the world flocking to Turkey for education and healthcare because it is both "free" and is of quality.
Exactly! Since when did capitalism have government interference lol . I can not stand how ppl think capitalism fails in any respect when it's the government who messes it up by unnecessarily involving themsleves everytime! It is never any other reason than that !
First i've heard of it ! I live in Canada ! Ppl are so brainwashed into thinking government healthcare is amazing and free??!?!?!? Like their taxes don't pay for it it's hilarious . It is bankrupted and billions in the whole! My dad has cancer, he waits months for ct scans and mri ! Competetion breeds better pricing and quality ! But somehow ppl stupidly and ignorantly think that rule or economics does not apply to health care. Ppl are so blinded here it makes me sic . They have no clue our system is just everyone subsidizing everyone else! I'm 33 , ive been paying taxes my whole life for health care i barely used ! It makes me sic ! Ppl just do not want to even consider it will be cheaper if private . They choose to deny all logic even after properly explained and continue to think " government dont rip you off its health care".... Makes me sic they are freakin socialist at heart ! Most ppl are
I wish there was a study on this rather than just anecdotal evidence.
Milton should’ve moved to Somalia, he would’ve loved it. No government constraining anything, a totally free market! What a paradise! 🇸🇴
I wonder what made Somalia into that? Maybe the oppressive dictatorship of Siad Barre?
@@user-ei7ed6zy9k the price of freedom I suppose
As for student loan you can always initiate studnet loaning company that is private sector and not public
It also pays no tax dollars, which in the end is the exact same as receiving subsidies, specially when corporate taxes as as high as they are in USA.
But uncle can't afford healthcare and he's got lumbago.
"The problem with poverty is money" What a genius.
+Martin White
That is the reason he got Nobel prize.
+Dipak Basu Yasser Arrafat got the Nobel prize too.
*****
Henry kissinger got Nobel peace Prize after killing 4-5 million in vietnam, cambodia, laos and about 1 million in chine and supporting the killing og 3 million people in east pakistan.
Barrack Obama got Nobel peace prize, and invaded libya, Syria, and organized coup in Ukraine.
Angus Deaton got Nobel prize in economics last year for doing nothing.
Dipak Basu
You seemed to imply that Milton somehow deserved the Nobel Prize for "good work" and then go on to tell me how worthless the prize is? I agree, its worthless so why mention it?
+Martin White I think you had a Sheldon Cooper moment there with Dipak's first comment ... "Was that sarcasm?" :)
So is Friedman suggesting, at the end, that he is in favor of a "basic income" for the poor or impoverished?
Alex Oliveira yeah he's one of the first developers of this idea he referred to it as "Negative Income Tax" though
@MarcLira66 Graduate school is not really taught by lectures. They are seminar based. It's very difficult to do advanced study remotely and still be able to engage in a discussion. Everyone would need to be online at the same time. The schools are already built. As far as "qualified professors go" obviously it's true that a lecture can be delivered online. It's already happening now.
I never said anyone can raise prices and not encourage competition. I said eliminate competition AND THEN raise the price. The point I am making with Google is in markets with high entry barriers, it will not attract rivals who will expand supply, cut prices, and spoil the seller’s market. We basically lucked out that Google has the budget to go into the market. There are plenty of other markets that collusion still occurs without a strong competing force and the monopoly or oligopoly continues.
we need a 2012 edition lol
A 2020 one for all the idiots who want to keep expanding the gvt
By the way, at the time Milton was making this speech the UK and others had free at the point of entry government healthcare systems that were and remain way better than the desperate, unrealistic attempts at a free market versions in the US or indeed anywhere that Milton would argue for..why do these facts remain unacknowledged by Libertarians when proven to be true?
Haha, you must not be British, mate. I've been forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds to the NHS over the years, and I got bugger-all in return. Only once I've asked for an appointment with a specialist and I had to wait six months. The bloke was such an arrogant dick I just stood up and left.
@@chesshooligan1282 i am indeed from the UK, and personal accounts don't really count..as im sure Milton would agree.
Look at the facts and statistics, they're out there and only a click away.
Why is it that there's plenty of national healthcare systems that are free at the point of entry that are rated higher than the US or any potential free market version?
Because as the facts show, free markets do don't solve all problems
@@alhazed I'm pretty sure my six-month wait counts as a statistic and a fact. I'm also sure having to take what I'm given is a fact. And the last time I checked, the NHS didn't rate higher than the US, but even if it did, I'm not bothered about a couple of percentage points in average quality. I'd rather have the choice and the freedom to see whatever doctor I choose whenever I choose.
Here's a funny story: I used to have an NHS GP that I quite liked, but I moved houses half a mile away and I was struck off that GP's list by the NHS. I asked the my ex-GP if he did private visits, but he didn't, so I couldn't see him for all the money in the world. Absolutely crazy. Socialism sucks, and the NHS is like a bloody cult in the UK. I swear I'll never understand it.
@@chesshooligan1282 your statistic counts yes, but only as 1 in the experience of around 65 million people in the uk and of course then the uk nhs is compared to others around the world. On its own its called anecdotal evidence mate.
You may have issues with it here 6 month wait, not being able to keep your doctor ect. But in the US, if you're poor you must die, insulin is massively overpriced, people are burdened with thousands of dollars of debt because they get sick, to want to that is a little insane, they don't even want that. Healthcare in the US is always a massive issue during voting for a reason.
You may have issues with it, it may need improving, but going back to the good old days of no healthcare unless you can afford it is a little silly.
As much as i acknowledge the need for free markets, it doesn't apply to every situation.
@@chesshooligan1282 bs. I'm brittish and that's nonsense
You can regulate the money you give to people but you can't regulate the people. What are you going to do if someone doesn't allocate their funds correctly and needs more money to buy necessities? What about someone who has one too many kids beyond their means and can't support them financially?
+maninthebox0 Charity. Put more money into people's pocket and they will give more to charity. And don't promote irresponsible behavior.
+maninthebox0 "What about someone who has one too many kids beyond their means and can't support them financially?"
Then they die. Reality makes this a consequence at some point.There is no system that can be put into place that allows people to do whatever they want, make any number of mistakes, and still be "saved".
+maninthebox0 This is a good point and will inevitably happen but I think that the majority of poor people aren't irresponsible to that degree. Yes you'll have drug addicts, gamblers and mentally defunct peoples but you already have them in this current system, their kids are simply taken away from them. Sometimes we'll lock away a mentally ill person for their own safety, this is just a sad part of reality.
If someone spends their "allowance" and can't afford to eat then they'll have to go to some sort of soup kitchen or rely on charity. Perhaps the next cheque they receive will be used more wisely. We can't, as a society, mollycoddle adults.
+Anonymouse Nobody in USA will be so poor and starve to death.
you can get a job, there is ALWAYS a job. THere is almost no living human who can't offer a service that someone is willing to pay for.
Even if you are working just for 50cents an hour, you could live and not die.
Now the problem here is you go to jail because you are not being paid min wage....
***** No the point was more about mentally ill people, drug addicts, gamblers and other such people who are harmful to themselves. My point was that we have such people around today and that's not going to change anytime soon.
@danesesse "The fact is you cannot just give a random amount which actually we kind of do now." If that's what you were saying in the previous post, then I misunderstood, and completely agree with you on this point. Also, unless I've been misunderstanding Friedman for the last 20 years, I'd say he agreed as well.
The issue I come back to with privatised healthcare is the issue of what occurs in an emergency. When you have an accident and the ambulance comes and takes you in with the sirens blazing rushing through traffic, they can't stop and ask you which hospital you feel as a consumer will provide you the best service because your bleeding profusely from your face, they'll just take you to the nearest hospital, thus the idea that hospitals can work like a department store is ludicrous.
I agree, but whatever hospital they take you to, will still be affordable and quality due to the competition of the market. Also no system is perfect there are trade offs but free market is by far the best one there is. Believe me I'm in Canada, you don't want the government in control of your healthcare
No one in the United Kingdom has to
sell their house when they get cancer. Not yet anyway .
What house lol? the one you have a multi generational mortgage on?
5002strokeforever So you think there should be regulation on the prices of real estate? lol
@@Bucketheadhead get the govt out of everybody's buisness do they cant inflate the cost if living to the moon
After-tax salaries in the UK are half those of the USA. I'll swap you my useless NHS for half your wages. Deal? Nah, I didn't think so.
@@chesshooligan1282 Useless NHS? What?
I don’t know what source you’re using, likely Fox News or one you invented. I can’t find any information suggesting take home pay in the UK is half of that in the US, not to mention that even if that was true, which it isn’t, it’s a solitary stat which only a troglodyte could think tells a story.
The simple fact is this, every liberal democracy on Earth has universal health care in some form or another. The US has a system where people sometimes need to choose between eating and seeing a doctor. In the richest nation on Earth that’s absurd.
Milton is only right if you believe that people are not corrupt and will always do the right thing. We know this is anything but true. This is why regulations exist and also why once we have regulations we need oversite to make sure they are being implemented.
We deregulated and now we have an opiate addiction problem and consume 90% of the worlds prescription drugs and highest rates of depression in developed world as well as death during pregnancy
Tony Tapia Exactly. And private healthcare industry care about profits before people’s health.
Sad. This man would be very sad to see what capitalism has become today. It has betrayed the concept of the free market as the ones with capital do everything within the law and outside to turn the game in their favour
soumya bhattacharjee Very true, however that isn't capitalism. Capitalism is the free market as it's simply the concept of running society by consentual trade between individuals. The mess we're in today is what liberalism leads too and is increasingly goijg towards socialism where it will pratically evolve into either communism or facism, most like the latter. As more organisations work together rather than againts each other, more oower get stripped away from the individual.
That's not really capitalism. In a capitalistic society government doesn't prop up any private business.
This is more related to Keynesian economics. But even in that it's said to invest in infrastructure not give free money
Exactly maybe you should listen or read more of Rand or Friedman because plenty of times they mention the idea of separation between the economy and state. The fact of the matter we don't see this is separation that is necessary for a true free market so we get corporations influencing legislation or politicians inhibiting people from economic activity. If we had Friedman's way we would have a free market which would keep corporations and state separate inhibiting how much power they have.
Health is something you need to work for. 2004 I got out of prison, with $800 in my pocket, no job , no family, had kidney problems, I cleaned the warden's office and got sent to a halfway house. I bought work boots and tools. Start working within a week. Then work in the oil industry, then bought a car, and been working everyday until now. Hit the gym, sleep early, work everyday. I haven't even see a doctor for 15 years. Things are not free as they should never be. Every dollar spent, someone has to pay.
Milton
As much as I respect Friedman, his answer to the last question was atrocious. There is no justification for the government using its power for the compulsory confiscation and distribution of incomes. A negative income tax merely disguises the nature of the distribution but it is no different in principle. Friedman was a brilliant economist but he did not have a wider ideological context upon which to base his principles. He was a pragmatist. The audience applauded him at the end because he offered them a moral concession to the welfare state.
8:38 "We ought to have a program under which we ensure a minimum level of income, of spending, and then let people spend it the way they want."
so he is for the Universal Basic Income? i'm a liberal and i approve his message =)
+captainplanet999 not really. friedman's negative income tax is a program from the right, and basic income is a program from the left, and they are different in their essence
Vuk Markovic please do go on
+captainplanet999 theyre not different at all really
mp517q I know I’m a little late, but negative income tax and basic income are very different.
The difference: Negative Income tax does not destroy the incentive to work as a basic income would.
Why?
Negative Income Tax: A specific baseline would be determined (let’s say the poverty line) and the government would pay a respective person 50% of the resulting difference between the baseline and the person’s income. In other words, if the determined baseline is $10,000/year and the person makes $0, they’d be paid $5,000. However, if the person makes $4,000, they will be paid ($10,000-$4,000)*50% or $3,000 making the person’s yearly income $4,000+$3,000, or $7,000. It’s important that the person who has earned an income gets a higher total income than the person who does not. Otherwise there would be no incentive to work if they make below the baseline.
For a basic income: The person who doesn’t work would be paid $10,000 resulting in a total income of $10,000, and the person who does work and earns an income of $4,000 would get paid $6,000 which would result in a total income of $10,000 also. There would be no reason/incentive for the person to work if they are making below the baseline.
JS Lavertu Who in this utopia will be taking orders at McDonald’s or feeding pigs at a farm. Who will do jobs that require unskilled labor? If they pay 8k a year, then they only get 2k from the government leaving them with 10k, but if they quit they get paid 10k from the government leaving them with……… 10k. Why work for anything less than the universal income? You wouldn’t.
In light of coronavirus, this is even more relevant. And of course with the recent rulings regarding Chevron difference, there is no such thing as a regulatory agency. They can only enforce the law as it is. Thank God the court is back in order.
@Theozzie11 I think you misunderstood the part of going to college. We live in the digital information age; you no longer need to be physically in a college classroom to get a higher education. This can drive the cost of college down enormously. But most institutions like the monopoly, so they oppose accreditation of distance learning colleges.
Can someone explain what he meant at minute 8:35? "We ought to have a program under which we assume a minimum level of income." Did he just say we should give poor people money?
+Antonio Vargas The idea is that instead of having welfare programs that allocate funds to people in need for specific purposes (i.e. healthcare subsidies, food stamps, medicare, etc.), we should use a negative income tax to bring all impoverished people to a base minimum income, then let those people decide how they want to spend their money. "Negative income tax" implies that instead of paying taxes, they receive tax money.
Personally, I see problems with that, of course. For instance, there are some people who find themselves in precarious circumstances because they lack the education or self-control to spend their money wisely. Furthermore, some impoverished individuals may find more value in allocating monies for their children's education than their own healthcare. And yet if they get sick and go to the doctor, hospitals are obligated by law to treat. The patient cannot pay, the healthcare provider writes off the difference, and at the end of the year the healthcare provider adjusts prices to compensate, impacting the nation as a whole, not just in out-of-pocket healthcare prices, but also in insurance premiums.
From another perspective, you could evaluate the circumstances necessary for the production of products or services which generate wealth. At the time this video was created, though today this is not necessarily the case, the production of products or services directly results from human effort. Humans require health, emotional stability, food, shelter, and other fundamental securities in order to successfully and effectively accomplish their efforts. I would argue that it is within the best interest of society as a whole to guarantee access to these fundamentals in adequate quality to ensure societal generation of wealth. This goes beyond current welfare programs. We still don't have an adequate healthcare system in the USA.
+Micah Henning You say " For instance, there are some people who find themselves in precarious circumstances because they lack the education or self-control to spend their money wisely." But what your also then saying is you want to live their lives or control their lives for them. Its not your responsibility or the Govt. to do that. They currently receive more money now than they should in welfare. Welfare encourages failure. We need to get them off of welfare and into a working status. If we promote control then we need to give more money to control as we have by welfare which again fails the individual to want to stay on the free money train. I agree with his theory on negative tax given to the individual to do as he or she feels...then if they ned something they will go out and earn it and get the skills...worrying about self control is not your worry. Plus they are adults..not children. Adults have to make up their own minds.
+Antonio Vargas You mean a basic income? That's what we need more than anything else! If Friedman was for a UBI to cover human necessities (with the trade off of eliminating welfare, etc.) I'd be behind him 110%! With technology becoming more and more prevalent, there's no reason for there not to be UBI.
+Micah Henning So you want a universal basic income? That's basically what you're advocating for at the end. Something that many leftists (oh the HORROR!) and SOCIALISTS (DFGSDIFG YSDIFBSDUKOLFGSDHKBF) are advocating for. I agree! 21st century societies should have a basic minimum income that every citizen gets as a RIGHT of being a CITIZEN (no illegal aliens). Then you eliminate poverty and allow people to work for what they want rather than the basics necessary to survive. Innovation and new products and services will explode since the penalty of failure will be lessened/eliminated.
+Samuel Fowler Oh, no sir, I don't think we should control anyone's choices. My comment was simply an observation that would make a negative income tax less effective, since the burden to society would remain, such as in my healthcare example.
I love how he makes the case for UBI and all the republicans applaud him. Can you Imagine a conservative saying today “what we need to do is give poor people more money and let them spend it as they wish,” only to be met with applause?!
As I'm read through the comments , I'm assuming 99% of the people here haven't taken Economics in college and probably gets their information from biases and wikipedia............................
dude even high school economics can get you more informed than the comment section
I took micros and macros. They sucked. And whatever I learned, I've forgotten in a year. Because they shove raw info down your throat and expect you to pass meaningless exams. I only studied so that I can pass the exams, not learn economics. So did %90 of the class.
So whatever your background is irrelevant. Instead of appealing to your pathetic authority, mount an argument to which you disagree. I 'learned' more from Friedman in ten minutes than the semesters I had to attend where losers narrated power points for a living. That's university level economics for you.
hmmm thats a good answer to the second question, although I do believe govt should still have a role in medicine as large govt contracts for lets say splints have huge bartering power to drive down the prices.
But there should be no restrictions on private medicine.
Reasons to keep the Post Office
1) Private enterprise costs many times what the post office charges to deliver the mail.
2) In order to compete economically they would have to pay employees much less so they can pay their executives & stock holders.
3) This means the general public would have less money to spend causing a downturn in the economy.
4) Article I Section 8 Clause 7 of the US Constitution, empowers Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads". Are you a constitutionalist?
I think the major problem with Friedman's theories is that they don't take into account that we are human beings. His perfect economy would be great for computers though!
+Micah Henning why do you think wall street is investing in AI development so...vigorously
+Micah Henning Which aspect of what he says doesn't take humans into account? I actually think what you've just said is the opposite of the truth, Milton Friedman always looks at economics from the human perspective rather than some abstract theoretical level.
Socialism ignores human beings and instead pushes ideals of equality despite human nature.
+Anonymouse I don't mean to compare his theories with socialism. I just think he gives people more credit than they warrant.
For instance, if an impoverished person is sick and needs healthcare, providers (in the US) are required by law to treat them to a certain degree regardless of that person's ability to pay. It's generally accepted that instances like these in aggregate contribute to the rising costs of healthcare, which impacts everyone. It's the whole premise of the ACA's insurance coverage requirement.
If we used Friedman's negative income tax model instead of subsidies and medicare, those who are impoverished aren't as likely to spend their unrestricted money on healthcare because they are likely to value many other things over that, like perhaps paying for their children's education.
Further still there are some people who lack the self control to spend their money wisely. In any of these situations, the societal impact of their impoverished state is not mitigated.
+Micah Henning well the progression of science contradicts your claim against Friedman's theories. Humanity has strived to know more and gain more. This includes medical science in which people had the ambition/greed to increase their life expectancy. Did Sir Alexander Fleming find antibiotics just for nothing? No he wanted profit. That profit was a higher life expectancy and better medicine which he got by sacrificing his time and labor.
+Micah Henning Human beings? Let me write that down.
socialism is a synonym for sociopath.
+kre8noys No, it's people like you who want the poor and middle class to be f*cked over by the "free market" who are the real sociopaths. Anyone who think health care and eeducation should not be a basic human right is a sociopath.
+kre8noys Naw. Socialism is an economic system which you find disagreeable. To impugn it is to make discourse on an appropriate system, or more agreeable system more difficult.
+kre8noys Wow, what a nice piece of rhetoric, if you say it often enough it's true. Most, if not all of Europe has a Socialist mixed economy and we're doing pretty nicely with it. In Britain and Norway the cops don't even feel the need for guns, we have free at the point of use health care and you call US sociopaths? I would laugh if it wasn't so tragic.
+Martin White I'm British, and I can well and truly confirm that socialism has ruined our beautiful continent. The whole of Europe is swinging to the right more than ever before.
Intuitivelogic
As you might imagine I couldn't agree less. My definition being Social care and welfare in a mixed economy. If you believe that the poorest should have no home and little of no food, that the elderly should be cold and die early because of it, that children should go to school hungry. That sick people should go without medical care because they have no money? You're not in a position to *confirm" anything at all are you? What you have is a mere *opinion* with which I disagree vehemently.
The devil incarnate
The one thing that I would want to ask Friedman on medical expenditure, would be about the idea of socialized medicine like we have in Canada.
I love the idea of a negative income tax and I think that it would do wonders for poverty. I also know that if Canada would take the medical responsibilities from the provinces and move it to the federal level, we as Canadians would pay less money in terms of pharma care and also other equipment and supplies, the reason being that the Federal government as the sole purchaser would have a larger buying and negotiating power on behalf of 38,000,000 people as opposed to an individual province who is sometimes purchasing for less than 200,000.
There would be a higher savings on individual unit costs if the federal government was responsible in this regard.
We know that hospitals in the states work with individual insurance companies to make sure that their company can offer the best deal to their customers, and in Canada, most private for profit medical insurance is illegal. Wouldn't a national insuror have the ability to make the prices as low as possible since everyone would be paying into it. Currently, each province distributes their own insurance, but if there is a national insurance, then it would be the same thing, but only cheaper. Additionally, we should certainly do away with the laws that make private insurance companies illegal, so that if they are wishing to offer an insurance that would be cheaper than paying into the national insurance, then they should be allowed to do so.
As it stands in Canada, under 18 medical insurance is free. This makes sense since the person may not have a very good job or any job for that matter. So, excluding youth, the premiums are also free if one makes under a certain amount of money, I believe it is somewhere around $10,000USD a year. Under a negative income tax, they would get money, but probably wouldn't be paying too much in premiums if at all depending on what exactly the negative income tax was. Lets assume that it would be free for these people who are receiving the lion's share of the negative income tax in this hypothetical.
In Canada, the more you make, the more you pay in premiums to health insurance as it is a form of progressive taxation. But practically everyone would want insurance regardless of whether it was offered by the government or by private insurors as we can tell by the ubiquitous rate of insurance policy holders in the US. Since healthcare is a necessity and having insurance is almost just as necessary, should their be a national health insurance offered by the government in the form similar to Canada's on top of the negative income tax?
*Would love to hear your answers!*
Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions or property in geometrical progression as they rise.
Thomas Jefferson