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> he probably turned in his grave when the bailouts happened. Maybe, but that is actually kind of the point. The bailouts were inevitable. It is simply not p

by lisper 5y ago

> he probably turned in his grave when the bailouts happened. Maybe, but that is actually kind of the point. The bailouts were inevitable. It is simply not possible to structure an economy in such a way that the consequences of bad decisions fall solely on those who made the bad decisions. There are always externalities, moral hazards, and politics. If Friedman was intellectually honest then he was also hopelessly naive.

skzv 5y ago
Milton understood externalities and market failure very well. His central message was do not think that market failure means the government has the solution: https://youtu.be/Moc7gwMJabM https://youtu.be/Moc7gwMJabM
- lisper 5y ago
  Yes, I understand that. But that is clearly an ideological position unsupported by any data. And in fact, if you think about it, this is necessarily the case because this position is necessarily based on assumptions about what constitutes a good outcome, and that is necessarily a matter of opinion, not objective fact. And BTW, with regards to that video link, it's pretty easy to cherry-pick an encounter between Friedman and a woefully underprepared student that makes the student look like an idiot. But in fact the student is correct. Government is much better at providing infrastructure than the private sector, with the internet being exhibit A.
  - ZeroGravitas 5y ago
    In that video link, the student isnt even challenging Friedman, just trying to ask a nuanced question. I actually agree with what he carefully says at the end (as its mostly vague and handwavy "dont do too much government intervention of the wrong kind") and Friedman still comes off as a complete asshole. And yet people seem to view this as a success for him. Strange.
- andrekandre 5y ago
  > do not think that market failure means the government has the solution so whats the alternative?

by lisper 5y ago

skzv 5y ago

Milton understood externalities and market failure very well. His central message was do not think that market failure means the government has the solution: https://youtu.be/Moc7gwMJabM https://youtu.be/Moc7gwMJabM

lisper 5y ago
Yes, I understand that. But that is clearly an ideological position unsupported by any data. And in fact, if you think about it, this is necessarily the case because this position is necessarily based on assumptions about what constitutes a good outcome, and that is necessarily a matter of opinion, not objective fact. And BTW, with regards to that video link, it's pretty easy to cherry-pick an encounter between Friedman and a woefully underprepared student that makes the student look like an idiot. But in fact the student is correct. Government is much better at providing infrastructure than the private sector, with the internet being exhibit A.
- ZeroGravitas 5y ago
  In that video link, the student isnt even challenging Friedman, just trying to ask a nuanced question. I actually agree with what he carefully says at the end (as its mostly vague and handwavy "dont do too much government intervention of the wrong kind") and Friedman still comes off as a complete asshole. And yet people seem to view this as a success for him. Strange.
andrekandre 5y ago
> do not think that market failure means the government has the solution so whats the alternative?