Positions Advocated
The Friedmans advocate laissez-faire economic policies, often criticizing interventionist government policies and their cost in personal freedoms and economic efficiency in the United States and abroad. The authors argue against government taxation on gas and tobacco and government regulation of the public school systems. The Friedmans argue that the Federal Reserve exacerbated the Great Depression by neglecting to prevent the decline of the money supply in the years leading up to it.
On the subject of welfare, the Friedmans argue that current welfare practices are creating "wards of the state" as opposed to "self-reliant individuals" and suggest a negative income tax as a less harmful alternative. The Friedmans also argue for abolishing the Food and Drug Administration, tighter control of Fed money supply, and the repeal of laws favoring labor unions.
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