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Friday, November 17, 2006 12:00 AM

A man who hated government

Conservative economic guru and liberal nemesis Milton Friedman hated intervention of any sort, whether in the market or in recreational drug use.
By Brad DeLong

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  • Saturday, November 18, 2006 11:04 AM

    This is why we call ourselves dismal scientists

    We economists suffer from the grand delusion that what's good for banana growers must also be good for the efficiency of moral choice. Which of course is prattling nonsense. It's fine to posit the actions and benefits of a GIVEN market but when we GENERALIZE to the whole of society we become yet another hidebound cowardly religion. Friedman's error was in assuming the everything is everything postulate - that what's good for consumers who want to buy electric blenders built by competing companies in different economies must also be good for social engineering generally and that if something goes wrong with a company then it's equally fair for whole populations to suffer as well. It's just another form of blindness.

    —SR

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