Milton Friedman

"Capitalism is the only system that has ever lifted masses of people out of poverty."

"The belief that government can solve problems through force is the root of most political mischief."

"What I want is to see people be free to make their own mistakes and to learn from them."

"The effectiveness of a policy should be judged by its actual outcomes, not its stated intentions."

"Markets aren't perfect, but they're better than any alternative that's ever been tried."

"You don't have to be selfish to believe in capitalism; you just have to be realistic about human nature."

"The growth of government during the twentieth century coincided with the erosion of personal liberty."

"Free markets are characterized by innovation because people have incentives to improve."

"The most important freedom is the freedom to make your own decisions, even if others think they're wrong."

"Government is the arena where organized violence is concentrated."

"If you want to help society, let people keep more of what they earn."

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas and still function."

"The most important ways in which I think the internet will affect the core of my work on the m-pesa and in the future."

"We economists have never been able to explain to the public that Economics is not about money, it is about life."

"The black market is the best test of the restrictiveness of a regulation."

"You cannot be both a welfare recipient and truly free."

"I think the internet changes nothing in principle but everything in practice."

"Prices are important not because money is important, but because they guide us in our use of resources."

"The great achievements of civilization have not come from government mandates or mass action, but from the individual genius of free men."

"I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible."

"A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both."

"The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit."

"The perpetuation of ignorance is not only possible, it is under certain circumstances, probable."

"You spend a lot of your life in school, but there is so much that is not taught."

"Freedom is a rare and delicate plant. Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power."

"The existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government, but it does define a society in which government is limited."

"Prices perform the function of coordinating the independent actions of millions of people."

"The ideas that a person accepts as true determine the way he perceives the world and guides his actions."

"We have a responsibility to promote truth, not to promote our version of truth."

"The most significant threat to human freedom is the concentration of power, whether in government or in private hands."