Freedom Through Friedman
November 25,2006

We lost Milton Friedman this week at age 94. PurpleThinkers mourn the passing of perhaps the biggest contemporary champion of individualism and the economic health of nations. At a time when free-market economics was abandoned by most, he was a lone voice with the ear of presidents and business leaders – thank God. Because of Friedman, we found the courage to avoid collectivist pressures and champion the policies fueling growth and arguably winning the cold war.

Friedman wrote the paper that definitively proved the depression was a failure of government and not of capitalism. He set the policy that governs the Fed to this day. Perhaps his biggest legacy is the strength and vibrancy of the United States economy itself. The newly combined European Union is as big as the U.S., but is an economic failure. Why? The collectivist pressures in Europe that prohibit the free flow of capital, goods, and labor prove to handicap the economy so that it is permanently stagnant.

However, for all his accomplishments, it’s impossible to say all his lessons have been learned. Just this week, Chavez held enthusiastic rallies for overt socialism. Latin American elections have leaned heavily leftist from Nicaragua to Bolivia. American foreign policy finds Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela as strange bedfellows. It’s clear that American economic policy is proven superior. However, economic policy is inherently political, and we are losing this side of the equation.

1) The world’s police force. There’s a difference between strong defense and policing the world. PurpleThinkers oppose isolationism, and we should use our leadership to oppose the threats in Iran and North Korea. However, when we cast ourselves as the almighty balance to evil in the world, we create enemies. Don’t get us wrong, there are real enemies out there that want to do us genuine harm. The problem is that we have made this threat infinitely worse by giving our disparate enemies reason to unite where they otherwise would be isolated. What does this have to do with Friedman? These socialist nations are only still viable because they work together – share resources and compensate for each other’s economic weaknesses. This is all thanks to our foreign policy.

2) Restricting markets. We’ve proven free markets work, but have abandoned same to our detriment. Alternative fuels are our future, but when the government restricts oil exploration to this end, we have to find our oil elsewhere. Regulation, restriction, and taxation make it infeasible to explore in North America. Venezuelan and Iranian totalitarianism and socialism would have failed long ago were it not for oil wealth. We fund our enemies by prohibiting American companies from meeting our needs. Our enemies will eventually collapse from within like the Soviet empire. However, we’ve prolonged their existence and thus the threat to our own security.

Friedman showed us the way. May his message of peace and prosperity find new life before its too late.

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