Econ 1: Spring 2012: UC Berkeley: Essay on "Free to Choose"
For your essay on Milton and Rose Director Friedmans' Free to Choose:
Due at the first section meeting after the April 11, 2012 lecture
Write an essay of between 700 and 1000 words on one of the following three topics:
Why is it really a very, very important thing for the Friedmans' argument that they convince peope that the Great Depression was the result of the failure of a government agency--the Federal Reserve--and not the failure of the market system?
What do the Friedmans think are the biggest things wrong with the U.S.'s welfare and social insurance systems as they stood in 1980? Do you think they would find the same to be the system's most important flaws today? Why or why not?
Explain why the Friedmans think that the Food and Drug Administration is unnecessary. The Chinese government executed the head of its counterpart Food and Drug Administration for failing to do his job: for being corrupt and allowing substances dangerous to health and life to enter the domestic and export food value chains. Does this change your view of the Friedmans' argument about the FDA? Why or why not?
