Milton Friedman was a renowned American economist, writer and statistician who was awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics sciences for his exemplary efforts in research on consumption analysis, complexity of stabilisation policy, and the economics of monetary history and theory. He was born in 1921 to Jewish immigrants. Friedman earned his B.A degree at the Rutgers University at the age of twenty; he later did his M.A in the University of Chicago and completed his Ph.D. from the Columbia University in the year 1946. Apart from being a lead researcher in the field of free market economics, Milton Friedman has also served as the principle economic adviser to president Richard Nixon, and also as the head of the American Economic Association in the year 1976 (Friedman, 1962,p.4). He was a big critic of john Keynes theory of consumption; he made numerous reinterpretations of the consumption function thus becoming the biggest opposing activist of the Keynesian government policies (Friedman, 1962, p.5). Most economic surveys described Milton Friedman as the most influential economist of the 2nd half of the 20th century. Friedman died of heart failure in November 16, 2006 at the age of 94 years.
Friedman Views on the concept of greed
In 1979, during an interview with Phil Donahue, Milton Friedman was asked about his opinion on the issue of greed. He brilliantly responded by insinuating that, the world’s economy is run by greed. In the interview excerpt below, Friedman rhetorically asked Donahue,
“Is there some society that you know that is not run on greed? You think Russia does not run on greed? You think China does not run on greedWhat is greed? It is the individuals who are pursuing their personal interests that ultimately run the world. You should understand that the great achievements of civilisation have not come from government bureaus” (Friedman Video interview: YouTube)
Friedman advocated for the minimized role of the government towards free markets as an approach to creating both social and political freedom. According to his argument on greed, it becomes apparent that Friedman shows greed as individual self-interest, and thereby implying that it the aspect of greed/ individual self-interest is very close to the concept of freedom.
Nonetheless, in his defence about capitalism, Friedman explained that greed outweighed simple good judgment. Based on this argument, it is superficial that most white collar crimes are consistent with his concept of greed. For instance, in the popular Enron corporation scandal, which exposed various failures across the system of corporate governance due to greed by various individuals who have been bestowed with leadership. Just as Friedman explained, it is true that most white collar crimes are influenced by greed, after which, simple and good judgement that ultimately affects the economy becomes undermined. The issue of freedom leads to the manipulation of various stakeholders such as auditors and board members, which would otherwise be responsible for preventing graft.
In conclusion, it is evident that Milton Friedman notions of greed and its effects on the economy are a result of the wonderful thinking that Friedman uses to support capitalism. According to him, the market is supposed to be self-regulating and the aspect of economic freedom to innovate is, therefore, supposed to make the lives of Americans and all the people around the world better. However, it is through this Economic Freedom that unscrupulous individuals discover loopholes that make it possible for them to instigate white collar crimes.
Works Cited
Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Print.
