--- title: "10 Effects Quotes By Milton Friedman" description: "10 Effects quotes by Milton Friedman. Plus more from Milton Friedman and more Effects sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/milton-friedman-616_book_i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law_2503967.png" --- > [I am convinced that the minimum-wage law is the most anti-Negro law on our statute books in its effect, not its intent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law-is-the-most-anti-negro-law/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/milton-friedman-616_book_i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law_2503967.png) > [ \[U\]nemployment is ... a side effect of the cure for inflation. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/u-nemployment-is-a-side-effect-of-the-cure-for-inflation/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3f/milton-friedman-616_cures_u-nemployment-is-a-side-effect-of-the-cu_1599909.png) > [The argument for the free market is a complicated and sophisticated one and depends on demonstration of secondary effects. I have confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-argument-for-the-free-market-is-a-complicated-and-sophisticated/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/milton-friedman-616_argument_the-argument-for-the-free-market-is-a-co_1650826.png) > [ There is likely to be a lag between the need for action and government \["an individual's" or "a team's"\] recognition of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/there-is-likely-to-be-a-lag-between-the-need-for-action-and/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b51/milton-friedman-616_action_there-is-likely-to-be-a-lag-between-the_1267914.png) > [If, for example, existing government intervention is minor, we shall attach a smaller weight to the negative effect of additional government intervention.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/if-for-example-existing-government-intervention-is-minor-we-shall/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/milton-friedman-616_accepting_if-for-example-existing-government-inter_2697202.png) > [Viewed as a means to the end of political freedom, economic arrangements are important because of their effect on the concentration or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/viewed-as-a-means-to-the-end-of-political-freedom-economic/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/milton-friedman-616_arrangements_viewed-as-a-means-to-the-end-of-politica_1785859.jpg) > [People hired by government know who is their benefactor. People who lose their jobs or fail to get them because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/people-hired-by-government-know-who-is-their-benefactor-people-who/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/milton-friedman-616_benefactors_people-hired-by-government-know-who-is-t_343331.png) > [I believe the role that people like myself have played in the transformation of public opinion has been by persistently presenting a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myself-have-played-in-the/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/milton-friedman-616_believe_i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myse_29995.png) > [But on the other hand, if you come under circumstances where each person is entitled to a pro-rata share of the pot,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/but-on-the-other-hand-if-you-come-under-circumstances-where-each/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/milton-friedman-616_circumstances_but-on-the-other-hand-if-you-come-under_2666447.png) > [The power to determine the quantity of money... is too important, too pervasive, to be exercised by a few people, however public-spirited,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-money-is-too-important-too/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/493/milton-friedman-616_alternatives_the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-m_2512205.jpg) ## Other authors on Effects ## More by Milton Friedman > [The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-government-solution-to-a-problem-is-usually-as-bad-as-the-problem/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [I believe the role that people like myself have played in the transformation of public opinion has been by persistently presenting a different point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myself-have-played-in-the/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [To really understand something you've got to reduce it to its principles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/to-really-understand-something-you-ve-got-to-reduce-it-to-its/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [It is a mark of how far we have gone on the road to serfdom that government allocation and rationing of oil is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/it-is-a-mark-of-how-far-we-have-gone-on-the-road-to-serfdom-that/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/economic-freedom-is-an-essential-requisite-for-political-freedom-by/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [“The people in one district can choose not to reelect their member of Congress, but that will not change the composition of the government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-people-in-one-district-can-choose-not-to-reelect-their-member-of/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [When you have a time of crisis what happens depends on what ideas are floating around, and what ideas have been developed, and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/when-you-have-a-time-of-crisis-what-happens-depends-on-what-ideas-are/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [The government doesn't have any money. The only power it has is to take from some and give to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-government-doesn-t-have-any-money-the-only-power-it-has-is-to/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [What would the people who sold us goods do with the money? They'd get dollars. What would they do with the dollars? Eat them?!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/what-would-the-people-who-sold-us-goods-do-with-the-money-they-d-get/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [World trade depends on differences among countries, not similarities. Different countries are in different stages of development. It is appropriate for them to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/world-trade-depends-on-differences-among-countries-not-similarities/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Is there some society you know of that doesn't run on greed? You think Russia doesn't run on greed? You think China doesn't run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/is-there-some-society-you-know-of-that-doesn-t-run-on-greed-you-think/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Well first of all, tell me, is there some society you know of that doesn't run on greed? You think Russia doesn't run on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/well-first-of-all-tell-me-is-there-some-society-you-know-of-that/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [I think almost every economist would agree that government gets itself in trouble when it tries to interfere with voluntary behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-think-almost-every-economist-would-agree-that-government-gets/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [It is most attractive about the US to people and countries with wealth is that it can provide security, insurance really, against political instability.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/it-is-most-attractive-about-the-us-to-people-and-countries-with/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Hong Kong is the bellwether. If the Chinese stick to their agreement to let Hong Kong go its own path, then China will also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/hong-kong-is-the-bellwether-if-the-chinese-stick-to-their-agreement/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/milton-friedman/#itemlist", "name": "10 Effects Quotes By Milton Friedman", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am convinced that the minimum-wage law is the most anti-Negro law on our statute books in its effect, not its intent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law-is-the-most-anti-negro-law/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/milton-friedman-616_book_i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law_2503967.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/milton-friedman-616_book_i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law_2503967.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/milton-friedman-616_book_i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law_2503967.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am convinced that the minimum-wage law is the most anti-Negro law on our statute books in its effect, not…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[U]nemployment is ... a side effect of the cure for inflation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/u-nemployment-is-a-side-effect-of-the-cure-for-inflation/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3f/milton-friedman-616_cures_u-nemployment-is-a-side-effect-of-the-cu_1599909.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3f/milton-friedman-616_cures_u-nemployment-is-a-side-effect-of-the-cu_1599909.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3f/milton-friedman-616_cures_u-nemployment-is-a-side-effect-of-the-cu_1599909.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[U]nemployment is ... a side effect of the cure for inflation.” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The argument for the free market is a complicated and sophisticated one and depends on demonstration of secondary effects. 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This is an important reason why many earlier liberals, like Henry Simons, writing at a time when government was small by today's standards, were willing to have government undertake activities that today's liberals would not accept now that government has become so overgrown.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/if-for-example-existing-government-intervention-is-minor-we-shall/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/milton-friedman-616_accepting_if-for-example-existing-government-inter_2697202.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/milton-friedman-616_accepting_if-for-example-existing-government-inter_2697202.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/milton-friedman-616_accepting_if-for-example-existing-government-inter_2697202.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If, for example, existing government intervention is minor, we shall attach a smaller weight to the negative…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Viewed as a means to the end of political freedom, economic arrangements are important because of their effect on the concentration or dispersion of power. The kind of economic organization that provides economic freedom directly, namely, competitive capitalism, also promotes political freedom because it separates economic power from political power and in this way enables the one to offset the other", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/viewed-as-a-means-to-the-end-of-political-freedom-economic/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/milton-friedman-616_arrangements_viewed-as-a-means-to-the-end-of-politica_1785859.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/milton-friedman-616_arrangements_viewed-as-a-means-to-the-end-of-politica_1785859.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/milton-friedman-616_arrangements_viewed-as-a-means-to-the-end-of-politica_1785859.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Viewed as a means to the end of political freedom, economic arrangements are important because of their…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People hired by government know who is their benefactor. People who lose their jobs or fail to get them because of the government program do not know that that is the source of their problem. The good effects are visible. The bad effects are invisible. The good effects generate votes. The bad effects generate discontent, which is as likely to be directed at private business as at the government.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/people-hired-by-government-know-who-is-their-benefactor-people-who/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/milton-friedman-616_benefactors_people-hired-by-government-know-who-is-t_343331.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/milton-friedman-616_benefactors_people-hired-by-government-know-who-is-t_343331.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/milton-friedman-616_benefactors_people-hired-by-government-know-who-is-t_343331.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People hired by government know who is their benefactor. People who lose their jobs or fail to get them…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I believe the role that people like myself have played in the transformation of public opinion has been by persistently presenting a different point of view, a point of view which stresses the importance of private markets, of individual freedom, and the distorting effect of governmental policy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myself-have-played-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/milton-friedman-616_believe_i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myse_29995.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/milton-friedman-616_believe_i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myse_29995.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/milton-friedman-616_believe_i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myse_29995.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I believe the role that people like myself have played in the transformation of public opinion has been by…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But on the other hand, if you come under circumstances where each person is entitled to a pro-rata share of the pot, to take an extreme example, or even to a low level of the pie, than the effect of that situation is that free immigration, would mean a reduction of everybody to the same, uniform level. Of course, I'm exaggerating, it wouldn't go quite that far, but it would go in that direction. And it is that perception, that leads people to adopt what at first seems like inconsistent values.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/but-on-the-other-hand-if-you-come-under-circumstances-where-each/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/milton-friedman-616_circumstances_but-on-the-other-hand-if-you-come-under_2666447.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/milton-friedman-616_circumstances_but-on-the-other-hand-if-you-come-under_2666447.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/milton-friedman-616_circumstances_but-on-the-other-hand-if-you-come-under_2666447.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But on the other hand, if you come under circumstances where each person is entitled to a pro-rata share of…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The power to determine the quantity of money... is too important, too pervasive, to be exercised by a few people, however public-spirited, if there is any feasible alternative. There is no need for such arbitrary power... Any system which gives so much power and so much discretion to a few men, [so] that mistakes - excusable or not - can have such far reaching effects, is a bad system. It is a bad system to believers in freedom just because it gives a few men such power without any effective check by the body politic - this is the key political argument against an independent central bank.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton Friedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-money-is-too-important-too/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/493/milton-friedman-616_alternatives_the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-m_2512205.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/493/milton-friedman-616_alternatives_the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-m_2512205.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/493/milton-friedman-616_alternatives_the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-m_2512205.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The power to determine the quantity of money... is too important, too pervasive, to be exercised by a few…” — Milton Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/milton-friedman/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/milton-friedman/", "name": "Effects Quotes by Milton Friedman", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/milton-friedman/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/milton-friedman-616_book_i-am-convinced-that-the-minimum-wage-law_2503967.png" }, "description": "10 Effects quotes by Milton Friedman. 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