At the 33rd annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, economist Milton Friedman speaks about issues including the economy, school choice, education reform, tax reform. After his presentation he responds to audience members' questions.
Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science, has been a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution since 1977. He is also the Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946 to 1976, and was a member of the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981. Mr. Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year.
Bio
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946-1976. Dr. Friedman passed away on Nov. 16, 2006.
Dr. Friedman received the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science in 1976, and the National Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. He served as an unofficial adviser to presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and Presidents Nixon and Reagan. He is the author of numerous books, including Two Lucky People (with Rose Friedman).
Robert Ingram
Robert A. Ingram is vice chairman Pharmaceuticals of GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical research and development operations company in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Lori Roman
Lori Roman is the Executive Director of ALEC. Formerly Mrs. Roman served as the Chief of Staff of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Education where she was responsible for strategic planning and management of resources to achieve the goals set forth in the President’s Management Agenda. Mrs. Roman came to the U.S. Department of Education to serve as Director of School Choice. Subsequent to this role, she held the position of Senior Advisor on Family Educational Rights in the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the Department. Her diverse career has also included work in television, public policy, and the automotive industry. Mrs. Roman is a veteran of public policy debate. An accomplished speaker and writer, she has been featured in various radio and television outlets, as well as magazines and newspapers. Her editorials have appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Times and Crain's Business. Mrs. Roman holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a Master's of Science in Administration.
Jerry W. Watson
Jerry W. Watson serves as Vice Chairman of the American Bail Coalition (ABC). From 1992 through 2000, he was General Legal Counsel to the National Association of Bail Insurance Companies (NABIC). Mr. Watson is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Legislative Exchange Counsel (ALEC), a frequent presenter of continuing legal education seminars for attorneys and judges, a lecturer on bail matters nationally, and has been published by the American Bar Association.
Set of principles and techniques by which a society decides and organizes the ownership and allocation of economic resources. At one extreme, usually called a free-enterprise system, all resources are privately owned. This system, following Adam Smith, is based on the belief that the common good is maximized when all members of society are allowed to pursue their rational self-interest. At the other extreme, usually called a pure-communist system, all resources are publicly owned. This system, following Karl Marx and Vladimir Ilich Lenin, is based on the belief that public ownership of the means of production and government control of every aspect of the economy are necessary to minimize inequalities of wealth and achieve other agreed-upon social objectives. No nation exemplifies either extreme. As one moves from capitalism through socialism to communism, a greater share of a nation's productive resources is publicly owned and a greater reliance is placed on economic planning. Fascism, more a political than an economic system, is a hybrid; privately owned resources are combined into syndicates and placed at the disposal of a centrally planned state.
Why is it that our universities are world class but our K-12 schools in badly need of improvement? On the University level we fund student but on the k-12 level we fund schools.
We make an argument for our k-12 that we would never make with our universities. We tell our students that you must attend a school even if we know its low quality because if they don't attend it hurts other students because of lower funding.
Its the job of a government to educate their students but not necessarily run schools.
I used to be a large supporter of public education, being a product of it, and a believer in that anyway who studies hard enough, and applies themself completely, in-spite of economic barriers, can achieve a good education. However, the more I learn about the arguments for the privatization of education, the more my views are shifting. Economic competition definitely seems like the fastest and most effective way in which to ensure a reformation of the sadly suffering education system.