Thursday, January 28, 2010

Milton Friedman is wrong

New Millionaire has this as a signature when he posts on the O/T area.

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. -Milton Friedman

That is - in a word - total bullshit. When people criticize the free market system, it isn't out of a misguided belief of freedom itself. It's a lack of belief that the private sector can, or will, be able to regulate itself without government involvement.

If there is anything that is to be learned from this fiasco we find ourselves in, its this: the problem with the free market is that when there's no oversight to keep Wall Street honest, those greedy bastards will line their pockets, find new ways to exploit consumers and clients for a buck, and bribe elected officials to stop legislation that could curb their greedy lifestyles.

Wall Street and Corporate America have proven that they cannot be trusted to regulate themselves, and without strong, meaningful regulations on the private sector, we will end up in the exact same place as we are now.

As the old saying goes: "You give em an inch, and they'll take a mile."

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