Flying With Milton Friedman Is a Trip Unto Itself

Caroline Baum, Bloomberg

• Rereading “Capitalism and Freedom” after a hiatus of at least 15 years reminded me just how relevant Friedman is.
• Friedman took issue with Keynesian orthodoxy, as well. The idea that a dollar taken from the private sector and spent by the government is expansionary defies logic and is inconsistent with empirical evidence, he said
• Income inequality may well be a problem for society, but taking more from the rich doesn’t elevate the poor and middle class. Friedman had answers for equalizing opportunity, starting with school choice: putting education options in the hands of parents and making schools compete for students.[ emphasis added and comment:  Friedman wasn't just giving economic theory, he had real world solutions that will work.  But not if they aren't tried.]
• Friedman said government mismanagement turned what would have been a modest contraction into the Great Depression.[comment:  Government mismanagement turned a small problem of a crisis in the financial market in 2008 into the big problem of the Great Recession.  We can't get out of this until the thinking changes.]

Whatever you do, don't forget what brought success before, and could bring it again.  Don't forget the '80's.