This clip is from the 15-part lecture series, “Milton Friedman Speaks”
http://www.ideachannel.com/product_info.php?products_id=1137
Transcript available via FreedomChannel: http://freedomchannel.blogspot.com/2007/12/milton-friedman-on-slavery.html
Summary:
A student poses a series of question on based on Friedman’s notion that people should pursue their own self-interest. The student points out that he’d read that Friedman had previously come out against disaster aid for victims of a flood in Pennsylvania. Friedman corrected the questioner and noted that he did not come out against private aid for flood victims but instead was against the Federal Government providing discounted flood insurance in advance to home purchasers which motivated people to build houses in areas where they otherwise would not have been able to obtain insurance privately. If not for the discounted insurance, it’s likely many of the flooded houses would never have been built in the first place as it wouldn’t have been in peoples self-interest.
The student went on to note that it was recently reported that an old man in Ohio died when the electric company turned off his power when he’d failed to pay his electric bill. Was it moral for the company to act in it’s own self-interest to do so? Friedman responded by asking what if the electric company never turned off the power for anyone? Who would pay the cost–the people who own or work at the electric company? It would be unjust to impose that responsibility on individuals who are running an honest business of providing electricity. Friedman suggests that the true responsibility lies on the mans neighbors and friends who were not charitable enough to allow him to meet the electric bills.
Finally the student uses the example of Ford deciding not to install a $13 block of plastic which would prevent it’s Pinto cars from exploding in a rear-end collision. Ford estimated such a move would cost 200 lives a year at a cost of $200,000 per life lost. They multiplied and found that it wasn’t worth it to install the plastic block. He asked if a corporation seeking it’s own self-interest was a good thing in this case? Friedman responded by asking, what if it cost $1 billion to save each life, should Ford have put in the block? It’s simply not practical to put an infinite value on an individuals life. If it took $1 billion in resources to keep one individual safe, and acquiring those resources meant that a million people must starve, it’s a bad deal. Friedman concludes that he doesn’t know if the $200,000 number that Ford used was the right number to maximize the overall benefits, but at the end of the day the principle is that we can’t simply protect ourselves from everything and impose that cost on others. Friedman posits that the question the student should be raising, is should Ford be required to attach the statement to the car, “we’ve made this car $13 cheaper, and therefore it is X% more risky for you to buy it”.
See also:
Free to Choose - All 15 episodes streaming online for free
http://www.ideachannel.tv
A history of Free to Choose
http://www.freetochoose.com
Duration : 0:5:25
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
You beat me to it.. …
You beat me to it…lol maybe he’s working at Burger King like Smoochym said..lol
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
The education …
The education system in the UK is really bad.
Most parents are now teaching basic english and maths at home.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
That is so true… …
That is so true…Alot of students these days DON’T THINK. We need more critical thinking in our education system
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
100% agreed.
…
100% agreed.
Political candidates should be questioned in a similar format, on live television.
Fuck the phony regulated CNN and FOX debates, even when the do “youtube” debates, they still pick the questions. We need presidential candidates to go to universities, and answer unfiltered questions.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Probably a …
Probably a bureaucrat or a college professor.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Believe it or not, …
Believe it or not, I like this student who challenges Milton. It’s called critical thinking and that’s what a university environment should promote.
Now I may not agree with the student’s point of view but at least the kid is thinking. Unlike many other university students that I’ve met….
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Likely he has found …
Likely he has found gainful employment with such humane groups as Acorn, the Castro Brothers, or Hugo Chavez.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
that student was …
that student was pretty good in asking questions.
its a shame that the education system is rubbish now and you do not have students like this.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Burger King
Burger King
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
that is a whole lot …
that is a whole lot of nonsense in 1 tiny youtube comment.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I wonder what this …
I wonder what this student is doing these days?
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Wow! these are 101 …
Wow! these are 101 questions anyone can have when they´re 15 with friends of the same age or answer them with a little though… what a waste of resources! What would I give to have 5 min with Mr. Friedman…
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
JHBowden79
BS
JHBowden79
BS
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Shenlong86, the …
Shenlong86, the progressives have been saying “the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer since the 1840s.”
History makes a joke of these bumpersticker comments taught in college. Not only are we now swimming in advanced technology, prosperity has spread all over the globe during the last 200 years, thanks to free enterprise.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Milton Friedman …
Milton Friedman only said the classic libertarian dogma “free market will fix all” and “governament intervention is always wrong” but 9 of 10 times these are only pseudo-rational justification to keep the status quo or implement selfish and crazy doctrine(like right-wing libertarianism) that richer the rich while the poor hear “your are free to be wage-slave or die starving it’s not freedom great?”
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
What a brave boy …
What a brave boy that was!
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
coming from someone …
coming from someone with the name kkklownknight6699 right?
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Friedman = Fascist …
Friedman = Fascist clown posing as an intellectual
.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Nice try. Keep it …
Nice try. Keep it up check out esteembpo + com for social media marketing. ukg
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Nice work. keep it …
Nice work. keep it up. mean time come for social media marketing for esteembpo**com
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
From an …
From an intellectual standpoint, Mr. Friedman was so far ahead of these kids that it wasn’t even a match for him.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I’ve watched a few …
I’ve watched a few clips of this talk and each of these Cornell ’students’ seem to have made the mistake of bringing a knife to a gun fight.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I know who is the …
I know who is the king of the world! (search on youtube)
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I think it is fair …
I think it is fair to say that the hippie lost this battle.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
“You know,why do …
“You know,why do you want to stop me? Why do you assume,I’m always gonna give the wrong answer?”