Milton Friedman on Self-Interest and the Profit Motive 1of2
This clip is from the 15-part lecture series, "Milton Friedman Speaks"http://... available via FreedomChannel: http://... student poses a series of question on based on Friedman's notion that people should pursue their own self-interest. The student points out that he'd read that Friedman had previously come out against disaster aid for victims of a flood in Pennsylvania. Friedman corrected the questioner and noted that he did not come out against private aid for flood victims but instead was against the Federal Government providing discounted flood insurance in advance to home purchasers which motivated people to build houses in areas where they otherwise would not have been able to obtain insurance privately. If not for the discounted insurance, it's likely many of the flooded houses would never have been built in the first place as it wouldn't have been in peoples self-interest.The student went on to note that it was recently reported that an old man in Ohio died when the electric company turned off his power when he'd failed to pay his electric bill. Was it moral for the company to act in it's own self-interest to do so? Friedman responded by asking what if the electric company never turned off the power for anyone? Who would pay the cost--the people who own or work at the electric company? It would be unjust to impose that responsibility on individuals who are running an honest business of providing electricity. Friedman suggests that the true responsibility lies on the mans neighbors and friends who were not charitable enough to allow him to meet the electric bills.Finally the student uses the example of Ford deciding not to install a $13 block of plastic which would prevent it's Pinto cars from exploding in a rear-end collision. Ford estimated such a move would cost 200 lives a year at a cost of $200,000 per life lost. They multiplied and found that it wasn't worth it to install the plastic block. He asked if a corporation seeking it's own self-interest was a good thing in this case? Friedman responded by asking, what if it cost $1 billion to save each life, should Ford have put in the block? It's simply not practical to put an infinite value on an individuals life. If it took $1 billion in resources to keep one individual safe, and acquiring those resources meant that a million people must starve, it's a bad deal. Friedman concludes that he doesn't know if the $200,000 number that Ford used was the right number to maximize the overall benefits, but at the end of the day the principle is that we can't simply protect ourselves from everything and impose that cost on others. Friedman posits that the question the student should be raising, is should Ford be required to attach the statement to the car, "we've made this car $13 cheaper, and therefore it is X% more risky for you to buy it".See also:Free to Choose - All 15 episodes streaming online for freehttp://... history of Free to Choosehttp://...
that is a whole lot of nonsense in 1 tiny youtube comment.
all028(July 2, 2009 at 1:00 am)
I wonder what this student is doing these days?
ronpaulspanish(June 27, 2009 at 7:51 pm)
Wow! these are 101 questions anyone can have when they´re 15 with friends of the same age or answer them with a little though... what a waste of resources! What would I give to have 5 min with Mr. Friedman...
Aanthanur(June 27, 2009 at 10:18 am)
JHBowden79BS
JHBowden79(June 25, 2009 at 4:37 pm)
Shenlong86, the progressives have been saying "the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer since the 1840s."History makes a joke of these bumpersticker comments taught in college. Not only are we now swimming in advanced technology, prosperity has spread all over the globe during the last 200 years, thanks to free enterprise.
Shenlong86(June 22, 2009 at 12:39 am)
Milton Friedman only said the classic libertarian dogma "free market will fix all" and "governament intervention is always wrong" but 9 of 10 times these are only pseudo-rational justification to keep the status quo or implement selfish and crazy doctrine(like right-wing libertarianism) that richer the rich while the poor hear "your are free to be wage-slave or die starving it's not freedom great?"
KapitanHaddock(June 20, 2009 at 9:23 pm)
What a brave boy that was!
NeonF1are(June 19, 2009 at 4:11 pm)
coming from someone with the name kkklownknight6699 right?
kkklownknight6699(June 19, 2009 at 3:18 pm)
Friedman = Fascist clown posing as an intellectual.
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