In other Nobel news... #1594162
"Friends of free markets lament that we need, but can’t find, new Milton Friedmans to refute emboldened socialists."
Fifty years ago Wednesday, Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. The Associated Press reported that the Nobel committee had an unusually long and heated discussion of his nomination. Some members were rumored to have objected to Friedman’s policy proposals in his “ ‘careless’ commentaries in his magazine columns.”
Paywall busting failing me today, so here are some extra quotes from the article I could dig up from the internetz:
“When I met Milton Friedman, I remember his supporting abolition of FDA…more than 30 years later, he was still keeping this policy alive, explaining that FDA made healthcare very expensive & most importantly reduced drug innovation”
Also: Friedman's road to eternal fame wasn't that simple... even at his own free-markety University of Chicago econ department, the Cowles Commission seminars opposed him on socialist and mathematical grounds:
Friedman persistently argued that their modeling choices were arbitrary and their complex general equilibrium multiple regression models didn't generate predictions supported by the evidence.
...with a nice story of WWII central planning multiple regression analysis failure.
Also, the 3-minute video from a debate/public appearance at Cornell University that's featured in the WSJ piece is _astonishing_... for Friedman's eloquence, his charm, his ability to turn the political/philosophical case for freedom into an understandable and common-sensical conversation.
> the electric company is meaningless: it's a nonhuman institution [...] what you must talk about are either the stock holders of the electric company, the employees or the electric company, or the customers of the electrical company.
## Somebody always pays the cost.
The supply of potential Friedmans is ample (including at least one other actual Friedman). It's the demand for Friedmans that seems to be lacking.
I'd say it's more that the media landscape is so much more fragmented. you just can't reach some people that you might've before
How so? I would argue the exact opposite
More fragmented means there is more competition
More fragmented means less trust in mainstream media
But less reach. Milton was so culturally impactful because everyone was exposed to his ideas. Even my mom knew who he was and was sad about his death.
He was 94 when he passed, you can't tell me your mom was blindsided by his death lol
That wasn't the point of the anecdote.
Your mom taught economics?
If she had, it wouldn't be surprising that she knew who Friedman was.
1980 PBS series Free to Choose
A classic. People should still watch it.
a timeless classic, I rewatch at least one episode per year
I probably haven't seen it in almost 20 years now.
He also advised Goldwater, Nixon, Ford, Reagan
He was responsible for abolishing the draft, his public debate with General Westmoreland was epic, Westmoreland was speechless, his clip was empty
It's not just about media
Then again, he did appear on Donahue twice, references on Family Ties (now I have really dated myself)
His son is David Friedman who taught law and economics at Santa Clara, now retired
edit:
btw, in 1976 every Nobel Prize was won by USA, a bicentennial sweep
I was alluding to their being more than one Friedman who might take up the mantle. David is the most prominent but there’s also Patri, who’s more focused on building free communities.
Patri's ideas are 'unrealistic' imho
and no one knows wtf he is
I think I have more followers than he does, not a compliment
No one knowing who he is is part of my point.
to be fair, he is part of a fringe project plus he doesn't want people to know who he is
Brilliant economist, wrong about freedom, he saw the state's boot, not the boss's.
The boss's boot is only an issue if there aren't other bosses to choose from. And that tends to happen more in an economy with heavy state intervention, due to monopolistic powers granted by the state via burdensome compliance and licensing requirements, and sometimes a straight up endorsement of monopoly.
I think many bosses don't eliminate subordination. Choosing a master isn't freedom, capital concentrates even without the state, so the boot doesn't vanish because there are other boots, you just pick a different size
When you work for someone, you aren't under their subordination. You're exchanging your services for a payment, and if you don't like the nature of the arrangement, you can always just leave.
Sure, you can always leave and sleep outside, freedom!
Yes, that's exactly how it works
Do you have a concrete example?
Timed breaks, permission to shit, quotas, cameras. It's the rule, not the exception... then you need permission just to shit, it's not an exchange, I think it's a boot though it probably dressed itself up as a shoe
That sounds pretty bad. Are you able to find another employer? Or start your own business / freelance?
If you don't want to work, go on the dole
again, the lack of viable alternative jobs is usually a function of state intervention
When you are a citizen you are not under subordination to the state- you pay taxes and the state provides law and order and enforceable contracts - you are free to pack your bags and leave anytime.
That's not an exit, it's changing landlords
the bosses' boots aren't boots.
Ever worked for a boss?
Of course, silly. I even quit a lucrative gig when one was misbehaving and using said boot
You quit because the boot was real
No, because the boot's owner showed themselves to have shitty values.
...and it proves the point: the state's boot is violent and unavoidable; the bosses' "boot" is mutual and contractual, easy to end on a moment's notice
I mean, a better or worse boss doesn't create the boot, it just shows it. The boot is the relationship, not the person, some are great, honestly. but dodging it is easy with a safety net, without one... your hope is the nearest bridge
do you think anyone owes you money? when you work for someone they have the right to set some standards for that work, just as you have a right to walk away. the fact that employers have standards doesn't make the relationship slavery
As an Icelandic welfare claimant your boss is the nation state.
Stop biting the kind hand that feeds you.
BTW Friedman was an absolute idiot- a proven idiot- his ideology destroyed the wests industrial capacity and handed victory over to China and its state capitalist- free markets hybrid mixed economy.
Thinking about the Friedman quote at the end there, it is true of Bitcoin too. What we must talk about are coin holders, the people who run nodes, there isn't anything called Bitcoin.
Why do Jews hate capitalism according to Milton Friedman?
https://fee.org/articles/capitalism-and-the-jews/
@EvilIsraeli
China won the trade war.
Neoliberalism spawned a generation of delusional Libertarians who just can't accept that state power and strategic planning can be a deciding factor in economic success.
Neoliberalism was the ideological justification for the deregulation of banks that resulted in the mal allocation of fiat debt capital toward non productive asset price speculation leaving @denlillaapan unable to buy a house or get a job or a girlfriend and rotting on Icelandic welfare payments.
He still can't see the joke is on him whole the Boomers squander their ill gotten gains upon all manner of debauchery.
Cornell University debate, WSJ article is paywalled