Milton Friedman on Self-Interest and the Profit Motive 2of2 Video

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

@asdflive take a ...
@asdflive take a look at this? watch?v=VOMWzjrRiBg

@steven7846 I agree ...
@steven7846 I agree with you that the world is finite. If you can find somewhere where Friedman advocates infinite growth then that would be interesting to me. I'm curious to? know whether you think the world owes you a living or if you feel that things have been taken away from you. Friedman was a libertarian who believed that the threat or use of force was evil. Do you agree with that? Why do you think profit is evil?

@garybsg That's an ...
@garybsg That's an easy one! Democract, republican, liberal: I'm none of the above! Why do you think it's the only options? All of those political constructs were constructed by writers who think we live in? a planet with infinite resources! Unfortunately it's not the case! You msut be american!?

@steven7846 an ...
@steven7846 an excellent reply. You? must be a leftist with that brilliant debate tactic.

@garybsg I think ...
@garybsg I think your IQ is? definitely too low too understand anything! it's sad for you!

@steven7846 if you ...
@steven7846 if you have a coherent thought please let me? know thanks :)

@garybsg "Mindless ...
@garybsg "Mindless" AhAh there's nothing to say to people like you except f**k YOU! The main difference between you and me is that I started thinking a long time ago! you still think oswald killed kennedy, 9/11 was a terrorist attack, and we live in an infinite planet with infinite reserves of oil. f**k YOU b***h!! I know much more about what has been going on this f**king planet that you will never know! You are nothing more than a sheep! get into the line until you? die!

@steven7846 typical ...
@steven7846 typical mindless? liberal. Empty headed.

@diurdi " ...
@diurdi "Capitalism is working? great." You are so stupid! you must be american to think such a s**t! did you? hear about peak oil? did you hear about finite resources, infinit growth? No! because you have been living in a f**king dream since you were born! f**k! Guys like you are really useless! you have never thought by yourselves, you just wallow every words of that stupid c**t without thinking a bit!

@garybsg? ok ok if ...
@garybsg? ok ok if you're happy with his answer, it's cool! Go back to your f**king life! Consume, watch TV , work, eat your s**t food, sleep, and don't forget to vote for your favorite politician who's going to take care of you!

@asdflive f**k! ...
@asdflive f**k! You are so retarded! "admire his methodology" Oh yeah!!! this guy has never stopped thinking the infinit growth in a finite planet was possible! So smart! His f**king methodology and his friends's ones has made our society deeply sick! PROFIT is their only way of thinking, no matter the consequences, this is their religion! The collapse is coming? and I hope you'll be the first to die f**king idiot! WAKE UP!

@steven7846 he ...
@steven7846 he answered the question directly and clearly. Ford is free to build any car at any price point and it is the customer? who decides how much safety they will pay for.

Yes, that phrase ...
Yes, that phrase everyone says is so indicative of free market greed is FROM THE GOVERNMENT! Then of course, there's the fact that? people weren't forced? to buy the pintos...

How about the fact ...
How about the fact that Pintos would NOT explode upon impact, it? was all a bogus scare brought on by attention-seeking media? See the scientific examination of the evidence: pointoflaw(DOT)com/articles/The_Myth_of_the_Ford_Pinto_Case(DOT)pdf Facts: The car was no more fire-prone than other cars of the time. The fatality rates were actually LOWER than similar-sized cars. And, oh yeah, this document supposedly showing that Ford was greedy? and unfeeling was a document based on NHTSA? regulation.

The kid speaking to ...
The kid speaking to Mr Friedman is a f**ktard and? a twat.

It's crazy to see ...
It's crazy to see how he truely believes in the s**t he's saying! He didn't answer the question, he just avoided it! Thanks to him and all of his friends who has? destroyed, poisoned the planet, killed people(war starvation), and made them greedy, in the name of profit!

2:25? Is Milton ...
2:25? Is Milton Friedman giving him the finger?

@loschrisos2?
@loschrisos2?

@samsamm77? it's ...
@samsamm77? it's exactly the same with me

@loschrisos2 The ...
@loschrisos2 The student was understandable unprepared to? argue those principles because he only saw what lied on the surface.

@loschrisos2 Of ...
@loschrisos2 Of course he is as fallible as any other human being, and you don't need to agree with his conclusions to recognise and admire his methodology for analysing economic problems. It would of been the easiest thing to join the student in? condemning what happened as evil and unjust, it was certainly tragic. What Friedman's analysis reveals is the underlying principles that are involved.

rofling hard at all ...
rofling hard at all those Friedman cock-hoppers atm. Yeah, apparently he was a pretty smart guy, but that doesn't mean you have to beliefe or defend everything he says. There is a whole bunch of other "geniuses" who thought Friedman was wrong with most of his oeuvre. All i can see is from here, that he dodges the question very sophistically - so? he is rhetorically very skilled, but didn't answer the student's question.

@tehatemachine ...
@tehatemachine There is no? need to!

@KnowledgeKEMET ...
@KnowledgeKEMET Watch it again . He showed them the mechanism of how? IT WORKS.

Wow, Milton was ...
Wow, Milton was great at Dodging the Actual Question!!!!! ?

I've only just ...
I've only just discovered these clips and those of Christopher Hitchens I must have been living in a cave not to have heard about these earlier! I want? to coin a new word, The Miltslap!

Debating Milton ...
Debating Milton Friedman...one big assed? mistake

@ ...
@arseniyonline1234555 yes it IS in the realm of business because providing misleading info or omitting crucial info is fraudulent...& destroys the legitimacy of a business...the information should have been disclosed for ppl to make the best decision... Ford was wrong for? not providing the correct information, but there's nothing wrong with making cars for profit as long as consumers are not misled. the boy just says it was "wrong" without analyzing the real issue imo.

@koala8 so it's not ...
@koala8 so it's not in the realm of businesses to disclose any risk information either, what we are arguing about is what the regulation should be. you can't argue regulation when it supports your side and ignore it and say businesses don't have to have an opinion, when it can be enforced upon them. Intellectually lazy to just say Ford was wrong? It's? common sense really. Greed and profit came first before respect to human life.

@ ...
@arseniyonline1234555 irrespective of "class", an individual values and respects their own life and thus makes decision on that basis. the only thing a business can do is provide the information. businesses cant cater to random exceptions where someone may not respect and value their own life, its not possible..it is not in the realm of business. businesses are not religious organisations? that counsel ppl to make right decisions.