Outside the Beltway

FRIEDMAN AT RWN

James Joyner · Tuesday, September 16, 2003 · 1 comment

John Hawkins interviewed Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. Some excerpts:

I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending. The question is, “How do you hold down government spending?” Government spending now amounts to close to 40% of national income not counting indirect spending through regulation and the like. If you include that, you get up to roughly half. The real danger we face is that number will creep up and up and up. The only effective way I think to hold it down, is to hold down the amount of income the government has. The way to do that is to cut taxes.

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I don’t really follow any political websites. I think they’ll do better reading the Wealth of Nations (laughs)…

But, if they’ve already read Adam Smith, then what?