Thus, the support for laissez-faire reforms in both politics and the economy was widespread (Friedman 2002, 10).Īccording to Friedman, government regulation is almost always a mistake because it contributes to coercing everyone to follow the choices made by elites, which significantly reduces the benefits to everyone (2002, 24). For instance, at the beginning of the 1800s, the Philosophical Radicals and Bentham regarded political freedom as a way of achieving economic success because of their belief that the enforced policies were too restrictive. The relationship between economic and political freedom is complex but not unilateral. To support his argument, Friedman provided examples from history. Competitive capitalism is the kind of economic organization that encourages the promotion of political freedom since it makes a clear distinction between economic and political power. Economic arrangements are important to freedom because they contribute to the dispersion and concentration of power. In Friedman’s view, the relationship between freedom and capitalism is associated with country-specific variables such as the educational level of the population and the per capita gross domestic product.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |