Friedman Day 2011 a sold-out success

This morning the Bluegrass Institute celebrated Milton Friedman Day 2011 by presenting a series of lectures and videos honoring the dauntless defender of liberty in front of a sold-out crowd at the University of Louisville.

Jim Waters, Vice President of Policy and Communication at the Bluegrass Institute, opened the event by describing Friedman as “the great communicator.” As Waters discussed, Friedman was one of the greatest economic theoreticians of the 20^th century, but was also able to turn these complicated concepts into tangible ideas which any concerned individual could understand.

In doing so, “Milton Friedman changed the world. He’s still changing it, and I believe he’ll continue to do so for a long, long time.”

Professor Stephan Gohmann, BB&T Professor of Free Enterprise at the University of Louisville, discussed some of Friedman’s more technical contributions to economics and the liberty movement. Gohmann pointed out that countries with higher degrees of freedom significantly outperform those with less freedom, and that’s across virtually any indicator imaginable – GDP, mean income of the poorest segment of the population, life expectancy, infant mortality rates – you name it.

For Friedman, the importance of economic freedom among nations was a no-brainer.

Former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate, Phil Moffett, rose to discuss Friedman’s legacy in the school choice movement, pointing out that Milton and his wife, Rose, would have a lot to say about the disappointing state of Kentucky schools.

Moffett took a page out of one of Friedman’s many books, stating that parents, not government, are responsible for educating their children, and programs like school vouchers and charter schools put that power back into parents’ hands.

Among other notable attendees were State Rep. Tim Moore (R-Elizabethtown) and John Garen, Gatton Endowed Professor of Economics at the University of Kentucky who recently authored “An Unsustainable Path: The Past and Future of Kentucky Medicaid Spending.”

Friedman Day 2011 was another successful event presented by the Bluegrass Institute, and one that continued the legacy of free markets that Friedman did so much to promote. In the words of Milton Friedman, “You could see a remarkable revolution, if only you’d let the market go to work.”

This coming Sunday would have been Milton Friedman’s 99^th birthday.

Happy Milton Friedman Day

In honor of Milton Friedman Day 2011, here is a video of what appears to be a young Michael Moore receiving a few doses of economic reasoning. Enjoy!

Milton Friedman Video of the Day

Celebrate Milton Friedman's legacy of freedom for Friedman Day 2011, this Friday, June 29th!

Milton Friedman Video of the Day

A classic Milton Friedman clip, educating Phil Donahue on the virtues of self-interest. Enjoy!

Come celebrate Milton Friedman's legacy of freedom at the University of Louisville Belknap Campus this Friday, July 29th at 8 AM. Click here to RSVP for Friedman Day 2011!

Milton Friedman Quote of the Day

"All of these (entitlement) programs involve some people spending other people's money for objectives that are determined by still a third group of people. Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody has the same dedication to achieving somebody else's objectives that he displays when he pursues his own."

Free to Choose, Part 4

These are some poignant words to keep in mind as the government spending controversy comes to a head.

Come celebrate Milton Friedman's legacy of freedom at the University of Louisville Belknap Campus, July 29th at 8 AM. Click here to RSVP for Friedman Day 2011!

Government is Not Society

A recent Courier-Journal editorial, lamenting University of Louisville Hospital’s financial inability to provide indigent-care for all non-Jefferson County residents, demonstrates a logical fallacy that so many mainstream political pundits commit – equating government with society.

Those committing this all-too-common flaw in reasoning imply that if there’s something wrong in society then government intervention is the only possible solution. The heroic leap in logic is obvious when isolated, but still smuggled into all manner of political debate.

No one understood the difference between the coercion of government intervention and voluntary social cooperation better than Milton Friedman:

The fundamental principal of the free society is voluntary cooperation. The economic market, buying and selling, is one example. But it's only one example. Voluntary cooperation is far broader than that. To take an example that at first sight seems about as far away as you can get -- the language we speak; the words we use; the complex structure of our grammar; no government bureau designed that. It arose out of the voluntary interactions of people seeking to communicate with one another. (Free to Choose, Part 1)

Why must the lack of healthcare for the indigent necessitate government intervention? What about market solutions, like easing AMA-enforced restrictions on the entry of new physicians into the healthcare profession? What about other purely voluntary solutions, like through the charitable giving of religious or ethnic institutions? Sadly, after decades of the Great Society crowding out this sort of voluntary cooperation, the common view prevails that it’s not my responsibility to look out for my neighbor -- it’s the government’s!

To find sustainable solutions to these genuine societal ills, we must learn from great thinkers like Milton Friedman -- we must take more individual responsibility for ourselves and our neighbors, and remember that there’s a whole lot more to society than the government.

Milton Friedman’s message will be heeded loud and clear at Freidman Day, July 29^th, at the University of Louisville. Click here to RSVP.

Milton Friedman Quote of the Day

"Sometimes the market looks like chaos, and so it is. But underneath it is highly organized by the impersonal forces of a free marketplace."

Free to Choose, Part 1

Come celebrate Milton Friedman's legacy of freedom at the University of Louisville Belknap Campus, July 29th at 8 AM. Click here to RSVP for Friedman Day 2011!

Milton Friedman Quote of the Day

"The free market enables people to go into any industry that they want; to trade with whomever they want; to buy in the cheapest market around the world; to sell in the dearest around the world. But most important of all, if they fail, they bear the cost. If they succeed, they get the benefit and it's that atmosphere of incentive that has induced them to work, to adjust, to save, to produce a miracle. This miracle hasn't been achieved by government action - by someone sitting in one of those tall buildings and telling people what to do. It's been achieved by allowing the market to work."

Free to Choose, Part 1

Come celebrate Milton Friedman's legacy of freedom at the University of Louisville Belknap Campus, July 29th at 8 AM. Click here to RSVP for Friedman Day 2011!