Free to Choose - Season 1

Free to Choose - Season 1

Season 1

Free to Choose: A Personal Statement (1980) is a book by economists Milton and Rose D. Friedman, accompanied by a ten-part series broadcast on public television, that advocates free market principles. It was primarily a response to an earlier landmark book and television series The Age of Uncertainty, by the noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
Network
Episodes10
DatesJan 1, 1980 - Jan 1, 1980
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Episodes

The Power of the Market
Season 1Episode 160 min

The Power of the Market

Dr. Friedman visits and narrates a number of success and failure stories in history, which he attributes to capitalism or the lack thereof.
Jan 1, 1980
The Tyranny of Control
Season 1Episode 260 min

The Tyranny of Control

Government planning and detailed control of economic activity lessens productive innovation, and consumer choice. Good, better, best, are replaced by "approved" or "authorized." Friedman shows how "established" industries or methods, seek government protection or subsidization in their attempts to stop or limit product improvements which they don't control. Friedman visits India, Japan and U.S.
Jan 1, 1980
Anatomy of a Crisis
Season 1Episode 360 min

Anatomy of a Crisis

The Great Depression has been popularly viewed as a failure of capitalism. The stock market crash, the failure of the Bank of the United States, loss of personal savings, were visible symbols supporting this belief. As Friedman explains, the real cause was the unseen failure of government policy and action. Yet this crisis resulting from government failure leads to decades of government expansion.
Jan 1, 1980
From Cradle to Grave
Season 1Episode 460 min

From Cradle to Grave

The welfare state arises from the attempt to do good with other people's money. Such attempts always fail because: Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as his own. Welfare is supply driven. Those spending the money use force to collect it and to insure those receiving it use it for "right" purposes. Good intentions are corrupted by bad means. Friedman visits U.S. and Britain.
Jan 1, 1980
Created Equal
Season 1Episode 560 min

Created Equal

The Declaration of Independence says, "all men are created equal." Friedman explains that this did not mean all persons should or will have equal talents or income. Equal opportunity to better one's self, and the right to personally benefit from the gains realized, are consistent with freedom. Equality of results requires force. Taking from some to give to others destroys freedom and removes the incentive for creating new wealth. Friedman visits India, U.S. and Britain.
Jan 1, 1980
What's Wrong with our Schools
Season 1Episode 660 min

What's Wrong with our Schools

Parental choice and parental responsibility in the education of children is the U.S. tradition and is consistent with a free society. Centralized government control has eroded freedom and adversely affected the quality of education. The poor help pay for education for the future rich. Friedman has long advocated using vouchers to solve the problem. He explains why. Friedman visits U.S. and Britain.
Jan 1, 1980
Who Protects the Consumer?
Season 1Episode 760 min

Who Protects the Consumer?

Various government agencies have been created on the claim that they will protect the consumer. These agencies restrict freedom, stifle beneficial innovation, and become agents for the industries or groups they are intended to regulate. Friedman explains how the apparent chaos of the market place, the competition of many suppliers for business, is the best protection of consumer interests.
Jan 1, 1980
Who Protects the Worker?
Season 1Episode 860 min

Who Protects the Worker?

Unions sometimes protect some workers - their members - but usually at the expense of other workers. Government protects its employees and special groups of workers at the expense of other workers. Both unions and government restrict freedom. Friedman explains how the competition of employers for the talents of workers leads to the highest wages and best working conditions.
Jan 1, 1980
How to Cure Inflation
Season 1Episode 960 min

How to Cure Inflation

Inflation results when the amount of money printed or coined increases faster than the creation of new goods and services. Money is a "token" of the wealth of a nation. If more tokens are created than new wealth, it takes more tokens to buy the same goods. Friedman explains why politicians like inflation, and why wage and price controls are not solutions to the problem. Friedman visits Japan, U.S. and Britain.
Jan 1, 1980
How to Stay Free
Season 1Episode 1060 min

How to Stay Free

Democracies have only recently been considered desirable. Historically, it was feared that democracies always self destruct when citizens, forgetting that you cannot remove want and misery through legislation, insist on government actions that physically and morally bankrupt their nation. Friedman explains why the United States has so far avoided this outcome and how we can continue to do so. This program includes an interview of Dr. Friedman by Lawrence E. Spivak.
Jan 1, 1980

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