Observe, for example, that Donohue (among whose fans we do not number ourselves) is not only reasonable, he is polite and respectful . . . yet Friedman carefully does not answer a legitimate question! Instead, Friedman starts to rant about how much better greed is than generosity, evidently not realizing that misplaced generosity is simply the right thing at the wrong time, while greed is never a good thing. Yes, misplaced generosity can do tremendous damage . . . but greed isn't the answer, as Friedman knew full well, as evidenced by his panicked reaction whenever anybody asked him about the ideas of Louis Kelso. . . .
Monday, November 4, 2019
JTW Vlogcast: Is Greed a Virtue?
Back in 1979 Nobel Laurette Milton Friedman was on the Phil Donohue Show and made his (in)famous declaration that greed is good. This has been taken ever since by libertarians and others as proof that capitalism beats socialism all hollow. In the opinion of others, however, it does no such thing.
Observe, for example, that Donohue (among whose fans we do not number ourselves) is not only reasonable, he is polite and respectful . . . yet Friedman carefully does not answer a legitimate question! Instead, Friedman starts to rant about how much better greed is than generosity, evidently not realizing that misplaced generosity is simply the right thing at the wrong time, while greed is never a good thing. Yes, misplaced generosity can do tremendous damage . . . but greed isn't the answer, as Friedman knew full well, as evidenced by his panicked reaction whenever anybody asked him about the ideas of Louis Kelso. . . .
Observe, for example, that Donohue (among whose fans we do not number ourselves) is not only reasonable, he is polite and respectful . . . yet Friedman carefully does not answer a legitimate question! Instead, Friedman starts to rant about how much better greed is than generosity, evidently not realizing that misplaced generosity is simply the right thing at the wrong time, while greed is never a good thing. Yes, misplaced generosity can do tremendous damage . . . but greed isn't the answer, as Friedman knew full well, as evidenced by his panicked reaction whenever anybody asked him about the ideas of Louis Kelso. . . .