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Friedman on government

Frist, the scope of government msut be limited. Its major function must be to protect our freedom both from teh enemiew outside our gates and from our fellow-citizen: to preserve law and order, to enforce private contracts, to foster competitive markets. Beyond this major function, government may enable us at times to accompish jointly what we would find more difficult or expensive to accomplish severally. However, any such use of government is fraught with danger.
cover This quote, from Capitalism and Freedom, is the fundament Friedman builds for a liberal (meaning free) society. The key insight of this book is that capitalism ultimately leads to freedom. Governments should be very careful when regulating the market. They risk freedom.
I read this book while I traveled thru China and it made me think about the political system there. Opening the country to capitalism, should -following Friedman- lead to more freedom for the people in China. This is truly happening. And with luck, someday it may even lead to free democracy.

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posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 link to this post