Capitalism Quotes by Milton Friedman

There is only one social responsibility of business

— Milton Friedman

History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom

— Milton Friedman

When you argue for free markets, you are arguing against the trend.

— Milton Friedman

What kind of society isn't structured on greed?

— Milton Friedman

To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them.

— Milton Friedman

Humility is the distinguishing virtue of the believer in freedom; arrogance, of the paternalist.

— Milton Friedman

The Federal Reserve the privately owned U.S. central bank definitely caused The Great Depression by contracting the amount of currency in circulation…

— Milton Friedman

The only reason free markets have a ghost of a chance is that they are so much more efficient than any other…

— Milton Friedman

The essential notion of a capitalist society ... is voluntary cooperation, voluntary exchange. The essential notion of a socialist society is force.

— Milton Friedman

History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

— Milton Friedman

The free market is not only a more efficient decision maker than even the wisest central planning body, but even more important,…

— Milton Friedman

So long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without…

— Milton Friedman

The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market.…

— Milton Friedman

The future of private enterprise capitalism is also the future of a free society. There is no possibility of having a politically…

— Milton Friedman

“A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it ... gives people what they want instead of what…

— Milton Friedman

What most people really object to when they object to a free market is that it is so hard for them to…

— Milton Friedman

History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition. History suggests that capitalism…

— Milton Friedman

. . I think the Adam Smith role was played in this cycle i.e. the late twentieth century collapse of socialism in…

— Milton Friedman

Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion…

— Milton Friedman

Socialism, in the traditional sense, meant government ownership and operation of the means of production. Outside of North Korea and a couple…

— Milton Friedman

"Free markets" is a very general term. There are all sorts of problems that will emerge. Free markets work best when the…

— Milton Friedman

If capitalism worked as the socialists think an economic system ought to work, and provided a constant equality of living conditions for…

— Milton Friedman

The great virtue of free enterprise is that it forces existing businesses to meet the test of the market continuously, to produce…

— Milton Friedman

Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power. Government is necessary to…

— Milton Friedman

Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to…

— Milton Friedman

The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic…

— Milton Friedman

Viewed as a means to the end of political freedom, economic arrangements are important because of their effect on the concentration or…

— Milton Friedman

“Fundamentally, there are only two ways of co-ordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion—the…

— Milton Friedman

“Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run…

— Milton Friedman

The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.

— Milton Friedman

Freedom is a rare and delicate plant. Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the…

— Milton Friedman

A society based on the freedom to choose is better than a society based on the principles of socialism, communism and coercion.

— Milton Friedman

There is one and only one responsibility of business: to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits…

— Milton Friedman

The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is…

— Milton Friedman

Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at…

— Milton Friedman

The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from…

— Milton Friedman

The black market was a way of getting around government controls. It was a way of enabling the free market to work.…

— Milton Friedman

What kind of society isn't structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which…

— Milton Friedman

Political leaders in capitalist countries who cheer the collapse of socialism in other countries continue to favor socialist solutions in their own.…

— Milton Friedman

The existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both…

— Milton Friedman