The Tepid Movement Before Mises
What counted as radical market liberalism in the days before the Misesian revolution? Let us consider a famous pamphlet by Milton Friedman and George Stigler. It was an attack on price controls called "Roofs or Ceilings." It was fine as far as it went. But it also makes this claim: "Heavy taxation, governmental economies, and control of the stock of money are the fundamental weapons to fight inflation." "Roofs or Ceilings" was a pale shadow of classical liberalism and a less than prestigious foreshadowing of the libertarian movement to come. FULL ARTICLE
Comments (6)
When Roofs or Ceilings? came out, Ayn Rand denounced it as obviously written by "a couple of Reds."
Published: April 12, 2007 10:36 AM
The attraction to Ayn Rand suddenly makes a lot more sense to me.
Published: April 12, 2007 10:51 AM
I may be a little more inclined than the author to revere our intellectual forebears, for all the obviousness of their errors as they bumbled toward the manifest perfection we of today have attained (NOT).
My grandfather never knew what a Megabyte was, but if he hadn't been (along with all of our grandfathers and grandmothers) as smart as he was, it's for sure I wouldn't know what a Megabyte was, either, nor would most of us.
I hope our grandchildren will look back on our maunderings of the present day and shake their heads at our tepidness. Meantime, the author has indeed done a great job of highlighting what undoubtedly is great intellectual progress.
As for Friedman, he set what I regard as a fine example of a guy who kept thinking - and thinking very well - throughout his long, productive life. And yes, decades after progressing beyond a certain point, it IS hard to remember just what one's position was like "back then." The author will appreciate this better when he's my age. And he WILL, too - he has a great sense of history.
Published: April 12, 2007 11:10 AM
Yeah, I came across some old letters-to-the-editor I had written way back when, including one where I encouraged a minimum wage increase as long as it was gradual. :-(
Published: April 12, 2007 11:23 AM
Friedman revised some of his views to be more pro-free-market. That's a credit to him. I think that broadly speaking, he became better as he went on. On the other hand, that doesn't excuse the horrible things he did (e.g., with-holding tax). And he had contemporaries (and predecessors) who were well ahead of him in their denounciation of socialism and interventionist economies. So it's not like he was "the only one" with anything approaching free market ideas.
Also, I don't think the author of the article meant to excoriate Friedman for not remembering what he said decades ago. Rather, he merely meant to show that he was wrong, and that even Friedman admitted that (as he did regarding the Gold Standard).
Published: April 12, 2007 11:46 AM
Every reader of mises.org is familiar with, often through personal experience, of being told, that we ought to "tone down" our message, we should not be "extreme" or too "hardline" and should attempt to persuade opponents of our viewpoint with appeal to gradual reforms.
More than 50 YEARS LATER, the People's Republic of New York City is STILL saddled with rent controls, taxpayer-subsidized housing, Tenants' "rights" groups, rent "stabilization", rent-increase guidelines, along with the attendant years-long backlogs and logjams in housing courts trying to resolve inevitable tenant-landlord disputes, and an infernal housing and rental property management bureaucracy which can't control itself, much less the residential housing markets.
We are told that the only way to get our programs enacted is to "tone down" our message.
Professors Friedman and Stigler followed that advice in their booklet distributed to half a million people. The wartime rent controls and their enforcement bureaucracy are still here!
So is an appalling housing shortage!
PEACE AND FREEDOM!!
David K. Meller
Published: April 13, 2007 10:15 AM