Friedman on greed and capitalism
Ken Kurson at Reason’s Hit & Run blog asks the question de jour: “So why are Americans—the inventors of Google, the assembly line, and the Pocket Fisherman—suddenly so willing to ditch all we’ve known and put our trust in Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?”
He goes on to say that no one is standing up for the promise and proven track record of capitalism. We had Milton Friedman to do that until a couple of years ago, but now it seems that no one has his ability to disarm his intellectual opponents by challenging their most basic assumptions about greed, incentives and bureaucracy.
Speaking of greed, check out the video below in which Dr. Friedman answers Donahue’s question on the human tendency for greed that is unleashed (and put to productive use) under free market capitalism.
Donahue later says that capitalism seems to reward the ability of people to manipulate the system.
Friedman asks another question: “Who rewards virtue?” Do presidents, commissars or kings reward virtue?
“Where in the world,” Friedman asks, “do you find these angels who are going to organize society for us?”

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