Not So Free to Choose: The Political Economy of Milton Friedman and Ronald Reagan

Book Description

This book is a critical and carefully documented study of the influence of the teachings of economist Milton Friedman on the current administration. Claiming that Friedman's popular writings have exerted a powerful influence on the policies, ideology, and rhetoric of the Reagan administration, the author examines some 300 columns Friedman has written for Newsweek along with his best-selling books, Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose. While conceding that President Reagan has sometimes opposed Friedman's recommendations, the author argues that by examining which Reagan proposals deviated from Friedman's laissez-faire line we can gain insight into the Presidet's real objectives as distinguished from the goals contained in his free-market rhetoric.

Customer Reviews:

Only for open minded.......2002-11-19

Of 12 reviews of this book at this time, 5 are 5 stars, 1 is 4 stars and 6 are 1 star. It is clear that this is a book you will either love or hate. If you have already decided that laissez faire capitalism is the best of all possible systems, don't read this book; you will hate it.

As for myself, I have a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University, and was committed to the idea that free markets/free trade is the best solution for all economic problems -- this is the basis of current economic theory. I chanced upon a book entitled Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes by Paul Bairoch. One of the chapters shows that historically, free trade has the opposite effect of the one that I had been led to believe in graduate school. Among many historical examples presented, Bairoch showed that the colonies did very poorly under a free trade regime. I was extremely puzzled at this contradiction between historical experience and theory. I asked some of my mentors about this, and was even more surprised by their reactions. In graduate school we studied only theory, with virtually no relation to actual economic history, and my mentors, well known professors at distinguished universities, seemed fairly unfamiliar with history and seemed to think it irrelevant. Their attitude struck me as pre-scientific; one decides on a priori theoretical grounds that the heavier stone will fall first and never bothers to actually drop two stones and check whether or not it is true.

After this failure of my colleagues to reassure me of the validity of neoclassical views and rebut Bairoch, I started investigating the validy of this model on my own. In the process I read this book and found it very enlightening. It contains enough data to convince one who is open minded that the free market model does not actually work in practice, great as it appears in theory.

Lies and propaganda exposed.......2002-08-13

It's interesting to see that after the historical record of the past few decades, nicely put together by Rayack, monetarism and his apostle Friedman are still enjoying some popularity here and there around the world. I guess it's mostly due to the power of the corporate rulers of the world, pumping enormous money into their propaganda apparatus staffed by political commissars mistakenly called economists.

It's their job to instill in minds like that of Jerroldd the belief that, for example, South Korea flourished thanks to laissez faire economic policy while abundant evidence points to the contrary. It seems characteristic that Jerroldd doesn't even try to refute a single claim that Rayack makes. Instead, he resorts to vague cliches about academic Left, supposedly out of touch with reality. Ironic, isn't it?

Smacks of "Hired Gun" hatchet job.......2002-01-05

If you are looking for a decent critique of Friedman, that goes beyond a rehash of the leftist, elitist, collectivist nonsense that only plays in the ivory tower world of college campuses, as opposed to the real world, then don't look here. Not an original idea in the entire boring, poorly written, pathetically reasoned diatribe.

If you studied economics, or more importantly, critical reasoning in college, you will be very disappointed in this hackneyed effort.

Make no mistake, the Friedman statist economics is certainly not immune to criticism. This just isn't it. It's almost like you're in a time warp swept back to the age of Ricardo, Marx and other collectivists with absolutely no memory of the total discrediting of that theoretical nonsense by the real world over the past 50 years.

Am still trying to understand the critique of capitalism as "failure" in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea where the people are demonstrably freer, certainly better off economically, and with real prospects for steady improvement in their lives than most other people throughout the world.

I mean where do you knuckleheads see a better life, the state managed economic paradises like Nigeria, Kenya, Burundi, Argentina, or maybe Brazil? Get real. Friedman at least is right in that sense: freedom is the single most important factor in improving the quality, and importantly, the length of ones life. And capitalism is the only economic system consistent with individual freedom. But the free market does not mean that an imperial Federal Reserve must exist to "plan" (read: control) your economic life.

Absolutely astonishing!.......2001-11-05

I agree with the reader, which described the book very well. It shows that capitalism all over the world has failed. Not only in such countries as China, Russia, Korea and Taiwan. But also in Cuba, Ghana, Brasil, Argentina, Canada and United States. Almost everywhere we have capitalism and it's devastating to our economy - that's exaclty what you'll find in this wonderful book.

This guy has no idea what Friedman's ideas are........2001-08-20

I didn't read this book, but if what the Turkey reader said is right (see above/below), then the writer has completely missed the biggest point --- Milton Friedman's ideas (i.e. people should be given the right to choose what they want provided that they don't infringe on other people's rights basic rights in the process) --- by definition cannot be implemented by coercion. "Milton Friedman's ideas" that were forced onto people are no longer Milton Friedman's ideas. Anything forced on people by coercion is not what Milton Friedman's ideas stand for. Since the author has completely missed this _MOST_BASIC_POINT_, whatever he writes cannot have any relevance to Friedman's ideas.

Once again, you can only reject a hypothesis if you've stated the hypothesis the right way. Basically you can't say that 1+1=4 is wrong by proving that 1^8=30 is wrong. Simple as that. But the author didn't seem to realise, nor did some of his readers. What a shame.

My only hope is that the author has misinterpreted it in good faith (i.e. he's dumb), rather than because he's done it deliberately for personal gain - e.g. to boost sale by attacking a Nobel Prize winner's ideas, boost sale by standing on the side of the Anti-Globalisation's/Anti-Capitalism camp... etc.

Book Description

In this legal classic, a former Associate Supreme Court Justice explains the conscious and unconscious processes by which a judge decides a case. In simple, understandable language, he discusses the ways rulings are guided and shaped by information, precedent and custom, and standards of justice and morals.

Customer Reviews:

Dont Waste Your Time On This One........2006-05-07

Cardozo cannot string a sentence together that is simple and clear. He may have been a judicial giant, but how would you know from his writing? Richard Feynman, the physicist, said it best when he observed that anyone who cannot communicate what they know, clearly and simply, does not know their subject very well. The whole thing is a chore to decipher into common language. It makes you wonder if Cardozo wasnt one more Hoover screw-up.

Well constituted thinking.......2005-09-14

Benjamin Nathan Cardozo has often been held up as one of the leading Supreme Court Justices in history, despite serving a mere six years on the high court (1932-38). Prior to this tenure, he served on the New York Court of Appeals, one of the principal courts of the nation, particularly during his time, from 1913-1932. Cardozo's opinions on interstate commerce, conflict of laws between federal and state, and congressional powr are still required reading not only for law school students, but also for those engaged in understanding the general manner in which Constitutional law is developed and regarded.

This book, first published in 1921, is a series of four lectures by then Judge Cardozo outlining his method of judicial process. The first lecture lays out a philosophical method. He explores the implications of Constitutional priority as well as the principle of stare decisis. 'Stare decisis is at least the everyday working rule of our law.' Cardozo is well aware of judicial power, be it in the Supreme Court or the lower courts. 'Every judgment has generative power,' he wrote, 'it begets in its own image.' However, precedent is not all powerful, and a good dose of reason and logic must be present in decision making.

In his second lecture, Cardozo looks at the issues of history (apart from precedent and particular case law), tradition and sociology in the judicial process. These all speak to the way in which society influences and shapes what kinds of judicial decisions and processes are needed. The third lecture develops this further, even going so far as to have the subtitle 'The Judge as Legislator.' This goes to the heart of one of the principles heavily in debate in the current Supreme Court and lower court selections. However, this kind of 'judicial activitism' is not the sole province of one political side or the other. Cardozo writes, 'sometimes the conservatism of judges has threatened for an interval to rob the legislation of its efficacy.' However, in speaking of the role of judge as legislator, Cardozo states, 'he legislates only between gaps. He fills the open spaces in the law. How far he may go without traveling beyond the walls of the interstices cannot be staked out for him upon a chart.' Cardozo argues that this is far from a new way of thinking, and that this is precisely how the great tradition of the common law developed.

Late in the third and throughout the fourth lecture, Cardozo looks at the issue of the subconscious or unconscious development of law and process for judges. This happens in legislation, too, Cardozo argues - when laws are examined in judicial settings, their dissection often reveals unintended and unknown aspects. The same must be true for the judicial process. Cardozo reasserts the principle of following precedent in a practical sense, and argues that that judicial process, being a human one, is bound by certain situations, but that the process as a whole is self-correcting. 'The eccentricities of judges balance one another.... Out of the attrition of diverse minds there is beaten something which has a constancy and uniformity and average value greater than its component elements.'

Cardozo's philosophy and thinking on the nature of the judicial process may not be to everyone's liking, but it has a strong place and influence in modern American judicial practice, and is presented in terms clear enough to make interesting reading even for those outside the legal profession.

The Nature of the Judicial Process.......2005-08-09

One of the Best short books ever written about judicial philosophy.

excellent explanation of the process of justice.......2002-07-21

The judicial process is often a maddeningly confusing one. Cardozo, one of the most well known and respected jurists in the history of American law, aims to give a relatively straightforward account of the judicial process.

The book is a good introduction to law and its processes. It certainly is not an authoritative text, as certain of his discussions seem to be out of date. However, given the authority accorded Cardozo in the legal world one can hardly go wrong starting out with this book.

A classic text that remains relevant to judicial politics.......1999-04-15

This book reflects the profound intellect of one of the most highly regarded jurists in American history. Despite its age, Justice Cardozo's classic treatise provides insights into the "real" workings of the judicial decision making process that remain relevant to a modern analysis of American jurisprudence. His exploration of the motivations, ideals, and even prejudicies of judges serves to demystify this crucial aspect of the legal system. His insights into "legal realism" provide an appreciation of this judicial approach and offers an understanding of its underlying rationale, as well as an argument for its continued utility for modern jurists. Most importantly, he strives to make the judicial process comprehensible and, even, approachable to the non-practitioner of law, as well as law students, thus attempting to make public law, truly, "public."

Selected writings of Benjamin Nathan Cardozo: The choice of Tycho Brahe, including also the complete texts of Nature of the judicial process, Growth of ... of legal science, Law and literature

Average customer rating:

Selected writings of Benjamin Nathan Cardozo: The choice of Tycho Brahe, including also the complete texts of Nature of the judicial process, Growth of ... of legal science, Law and literature
Benjamin N Cardozo
Manufacturer: Matthew Bender
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Philosophy | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007FDP2S

Average customer rating:

The Nature of Judicial Process
Benjamin N. Cardozo
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H9TEH4

Cardozo on the law: Including the nature of the judicial process, The growth of the law, The paradoxes of legal science, Law and literature

Average customer rating:

Cardozo on the law: Including the nature of the judicial process, The growth of the law, The paradoxes of legal science, Law and literature
Benjamin N Cardozo
Manufacturer: Legal Classics Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Jurisprudence | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Philosophy | Law | Subjects | Books

Judges and the Rule of Law: Creating the links: environment, human rights and poverty

Average customer rating:

Judges and the Rule of Law: Creating the links: environment, human rights and poverty

Manufacturer: World Conservation Union
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 2831709156

The nature and practice of real actions, in their writs and process, both original and judicial

Average customer rating:

The nature and practice of real actions, in their writs and process, both original and judicial
George Booth
Manufacturer: Printed and published by Stephen Gould, at the sign of Lord Coke, opposite the City-Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | English Law | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006AH27I

Average customer rating:

The Nature Of The Judicial Process
Bejamin N. Cardozo
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H3TESE

Average customer rating:

The Nature of the Judicial Process
Benjamin N. Cardoza
Manufacturer: Universal Law Publishing Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Courts | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 8175340622

Average customer rating:

Nature of the Judicial Process

Manufacturer: Yale Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

The Nature of the Judicial Process

Manufacturer: Yale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GSKLIC

Book Description

The dramatic shifts in heartland regional economies in the U.S. and other advanced industrial countries have thrown into question the ability of capitalist development to produce permanent growth, economic well being, and balanced regional development. This book develops a theory that radically reconceptualizes the economic forces producing regional change and tests it empirically for a set of fifteen sectors in the U.S. It offers a pioneering approach which should enable planners and managers to better cope with baffling changes in the current economic viability of regions.

Traditional theories of regional development have failed to account for innovation and longrun structural change. They have ignored the role of corporate strategy and the existence of market power. Markusen's "profit-cycle theory" provides a key to understanding how, why, and when a region's leading industries undergo major changes. The theory is synthetic, building upon Schumpeterian and Marxist work on innovation and capitalist dynamics, upon the product cycle theories of business economists, and upon theories of oligopolistic behavior. Markusen argues that changing sources of profitability along an industry's evolutionary path will first concentrate and later disperse production geographically, setting in motion a methodically destabilizing process for regional economies.

The profit-cycle theory is tested in depth against the steel sector's experience over a century, and against the experiences of sectors in different stages of development, ranging from innovative ones like semiconductors and computers, to mature and troubled sectors like automobiles, textiles, and lumber. The temporal and crosssectional data drawn from the census of manufactures support the theory and its spatial hypotheses. In a final chapter Markusen explores the implications of the research for regional development.

Ann Markusen is Assistant Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley.

Profit cycles, oligopoly and regional transformation (Working paper / Institute of Urban & Regional Development, University of California)

Average customer rating:

Profit cycles, oligopoly and regional transformation (Working paper / Institute of Urban & Regional Development, University of California)
Ann R Markusen
Manufacturer: Institute of Urban & Regional Development, University of California
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006Y5V7W

Book Description

The World Development Report, published by the World Bank every year since 1978, contains a wealth of information on the economic and social state of the world. This omnibus CD-ROM edition includes the text of all 27 editions. Contents are fully indexed and cross-referenced for easy searching across the volumes in the archives.

Book Description

This recently revised and expanded statistical collection provides the most detailed collection of data on Africa available in one volume. It presents data from over 50 African countries, arranged in more than 250 separate tables or matrices for more than 300 indicators of development. Some 40
graphs assist in interpreting the data.
The indicators will be grouped into individual chapters, covering such topics as background data, national accounts, prices and exchange rates, money and banking, the external sector, external debt and related flows, government finance, agriculture, public and energy production, communications,
transport, labor force and employment, public enterprises, aid flows, social indicators, environmental indicators, and household welfare indicators. Each chapter includes a brief introduction on the nature of the data and their limitations followed by technical notes that define the indicators and
identify specific sources.

Average customer rating:

African Development Indicators 2000
World Bank
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Macroeconomics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Statistics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0821343866

Book Description

This updated version of the African Development Indicators provides a revised and expanded statistical collection of the most detailed data on Africa available in one volume. It presents data on 53 African countries, arranged in 300 separate tables or matrices providing more than 350 indicators of development.

African Development Indicators 2002 (African Development Indicators)

Average customer rating:

African Development Indicators 2002 (African Development Indicators)
World Bank
Manufacturer: World Bank
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Econometrics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Yearbooks & Annuals | Almanacs & Yearbooks | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0821350579

Development of Indicators for Monitoring Progress Towards Health for All by the Year 2000 (Health for All Series)

Average customer rating:

Development of Indicators for Monitoring Progress Towards Health for All by the Year 2000 (Health for All Series)

Manufacturer: World Health Organization
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

Health Care Delivery | Administration & Policy | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9241800046

Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries: Volume XXV: 1994 (Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries)

Average customer rating:

Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries: Volume XXV: 1994 (Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries)
Asian Development Bank
Manufacturer: An Asian Development Bank Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Statistics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries is an annual statistical publication of the Asian Development Bank, presenting the most current staistical data and socioeconomic indicators from 29 of the Bank's developing member countries (DMCs). Key Indicators comprises three parts. Part I presents data that provide a broad perspective on the situation and performance of the Asian and pacific region in relation to industrialized countries and other developing regions of the world. Part II presents standard socioeconomic data comparable among DMCs. Part III presents detailed data for each country covered. Key Indicators is prepared by the Statistics and Data Systems Division of the Asian Development Bank's Economics and Development Resource Centre. Data sources for Key Indicators include the governments of the countries covered and a number of international development agencies.

Average customer rating:

The Little Data Book 2000
World Bank
Manufacturer: World Bank
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

International | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0821346792

Social Indicators of Development, 1994 (World Bank)

Average customer rating:

Social Indicators of Development, 1994 (World Bank)
World Bank
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Research | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Social Indicators of Development, 1995 (World Bank)

Average customer rating:

Social Indicators of Development, 1995 (World Bank)
World Bank
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Research | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0801850215

Book Description

This book provides the latest social indicators for more than 190 economies, including the most recent available estimates of fertility, mortality, illiteracy, access to health care, and shares of GDP for selected social expenditures. International comparisons are made easier by a summary table that takes a cross-country look at a selected array of indicators.

From reviews of previous editions:

"A remarkable contribution to the science of socioeconomic development."--Singapore Economic Review.

"A valuable quick reference source."--World Affairs Council Booknotes.

World Bank.

Social Indicators of Development, 1996 (Social Indicators of Development)

Average customer rating:

Social Indicators of Development, 1996 (Social Indicators of Development)
World Bank
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Research | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History | Special Topics | Medicine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0801852749

Book Description

This book provides the latest social indicators for more than 190 economies, including the most recent available estimates of fertility, mortality, illiteracy, access to health care, and shares of GDP for selected social expenditures. The indicators describe the characteristics of poverty and the effectiveness of efforts to reduce poverty. International comparisons are made easier by a summary table that takes a cross-country look at a selected array of indicators. The data are gathered from governments, specialized international agencies, and World Bank files.

Average customer rating:
An assessment of current electronic commerce activity in procurement (SuDoc PREX 2.2:AS 7/3)
U.S. Postal Service
Manufacturer: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Federal Procurement Policy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Web Marketing | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00010W1V0

Book Description

Many leading economists profoundly disagree about the need for deep government cutbacks to lower Canda's debt and deficit problem. In this book, authoritative figures like Nobel prize- winning economist James Tobin and Canadian Economics Association president Pierre Fortin argue that cutbacks are not the answer to Canada's debt problem.

The main cause of our current debt and deficit dilemma, as these authors show, is misguided policy - particularly the Bank of Canada's drive to achieve zero inflation and its insistence on imposing high short-term interest rates on the Canadian economy.

Unnecessary Debts offers a penetrating analysis of Canada's economic malaise as well as a humane alternative to the path we are now following.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books