The name of Milton Friedman is probably heard more today than when he was alive.
The New York Times called him the godfather of the
credo that “prosperity springs from markets free of all government
management.” The investment banker
Myron Gushlak captures the essence of Friedman when he paraphrases, “If the
government ran the Sahara desert, we’d run out of sand in five years.” In these days of public clamoring for
government intervention into the economy, Friedman stands alone, metaphorically,
of course; he died in 2006. His principles, once embraced by Ronald Reagan,
have fallen into disfavor.
The
wonderful novel, White Man’s Grave,
comes to mind every time I hear someone stand and call for intervention into
the free market system. With apologies to the author, Richard Dooling, part of
that novel is about a corporate lawyer who in gratitude to an African village
for helping to locate his missing Peace Corps son, sends over tons of grain (I
think it was rice, but I don’t remember) to help feed the starving inhabitants.
Half of the “gift” went immediately to corrupt village officials. The remainder
caused a flood in the grain market, dropping the price precipitously, and
resulted in the bankruptcy of the few legitimate farmers in the area. The
lawyer, back home in Chicago and unaware of the negative consequences of his
generosity, was smugly self congratulatory with his largesse.
Whether
or not to help is a fundamental human dilemma. When your child falls, should
you help him up or let him struggle to his feet on his own? The economy has
fallen. I watch it struggling, unsure of what might be the best thing to do. I
wish I had a little more faith that our leaders had a better idea than I.
