In the UK, the basic rate of tax was 33 per cent by the latter half of the 1970s. And with high taxes came hands-on government: nationalised industries, heavy regulation and interventionist industrial policy. But Friedman’s acolytes advocated a different approach. By rolling back regulations and cutting taxes, governments could unleash the power of the market – and bring the return of high growth and manageable inflation. This market-friendly ideology found its touchstone with Friedman’s famous doctrine, which held that the social responsibility of corporations and the business sector was to
...more
