Some 30 years ago, the economist Milton Friedman appeared on The Donahue Show with Phil Donahue. The entire interview can be viewed on Youtube here (note: The interview is in 5 parts).
The following is a 2 minute transcription where Friedman takes Donahue to task for his government-interventionist ideas:
Donahue: When you see around the globe, the maldistribution of wealth, the desperate plight of millions of people in underdeveloped countries, when you see so few “haves” and so many “have nots”, when you see the greed and the concentration of power; aren’t you ever…did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism? And whether greed is a good idea to run on?
Friedman: Well first of all, tell me, is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow whose greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a…from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history; are where they have had capitalism and largely free-trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off, worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear: that there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.
Donahue: But it seems to reward, not virtue, as much as ability to manipulate the system.
Friedman: And what does reward virtue? You think the Communist Commissar rewards virtue? Do you think a Hitler rewards virtue? Do you think, excuse me, if you’ll pardon me, do you think American Presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the bases of the virtue of the people appointed or on the bases of their political clout? Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?
You know, I think you’re taking a lot of things for granted. Just tell me where in the world you find these angels, who are going to organize society for us.
Donahue: Well…
Friedman: I don’t even trust you to do that.
You just don’t find that kind of exchange on TV anymore. It is so easy to sit back and pick on free-market capitalism, as is the zeitgeist, but truth be told it was not the free-market that put us in this position, but government intervention into the free-market. A great expose testifying to this fact is Meltdown by Tom Woods. I appreciate Milton Friedman’s contribution to academia and free-market capitalism and it is my guess that his keen insight is going to gain more and more fans as people begin to realize how accurate he was.