Free To Choose - The Original 1980 TV Series

America's freedom and prosperity derive from the combination of the idea of human liberty with the idea of economic freedom in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." Friedman explains how markets and voluntary exchange organize activity and enable people to improve their lives.

Government planning and detailed control of economic activity lessen 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.

The Great Depression has been popularly viewed as a failure of capitalism. 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.

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. Good intentions are corrupted by bad means.

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 oneself and the right to personally benefit from the gains realized are consistent with freedom.

Parental choice and parental responsibility in the education of children are the U.S. tradition and are consistent with a free society. The poor help pay for education for the future rich. Friedman has long advocated using vouchers to solve the problem. He explains why.

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.

Unions sometimes protect some workers—their members—but usually at the expense of other workers. The government protects its employees and special groups of workers at the expense of other workers. Both unions and the government restrict freedom.

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.

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.