Why Government Is the Problem (Essays in Public Policy Book 39)

by Milton Friedman

reflecting the real underlying feeling of the population, I do not think he was. As I say, I believe that the reason that we are not getting the government the people want is because there is no way in which they can make their wants effective. It is the same thing as with the cab business. The people in one district can choose not to reelect their member of Congress, but that will not change the composition of the government as a whole. You have to change the system and make it possible for the people's will to be heard. Take California. How do I know that the people are not getting the legislation they want? I know that because they overwhelmingly passed term limits on legislators and a sharp reduction in permissible expenditures on legislative assistance. When they could vote on the legislature as a whole, they voted very differently than they voted on individual legislators. On your logic, Russia was getting the government its people wanted. QUESTION: How important were World War II and the War Production Board in convincing the public of the power of government to "do good"? Second, and I'll tie them together, how important was inflation in the seventies for the success of Reagan? Therefore, are ideas not that important? FRIEDMAN: On the first issue, I believe the Great Depression was the overwhelmingly important event that persuaded the public that government could do good. The United States was able for 150 years or more to maintain a system that was predominantly p...

That’s exactly the point!

businesses. Then came the panic of 1837,