Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Friedman on Freedom (2/5)

Friedman disliked regulations. The voluntary choices of individuals, not the dictates of the state, should be the default mode of human life. A government should protect her citizens. That’s it. That is her one and only duty. Friedman placed the choices of buyers and sellers, not government management, at the center of economical thinking. A government should not try to regulate the economy, nor try to govern morality, nor try to look after voters’ interests. A society led by a regulatory government will be less efficient, less innovative, and ultimately less free. The government should act like a referee, not as a player. "The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem", Friedman says.