Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom evaded engagement with opponents and defined away monopoly

Evidence

If anything, the 1962 book is far more simple-minded than its original inspiration. It claims that “economic freedom is an end in itself” (p. 8), only to absolve itself of ever having to define “freedom” (p. 26). In contrast to Road, it makes no effort to conduct a dialogue with socialists, nor indeed anyone else who might disagree with it. … Market power was simply waved away with the Friedmanite recourse to the notorious doctrine of the as if: “I have become increasingly impressed with how wide is the range of problems and industries for which it is appropriate to treat the economy as if it were competitive” (p. 120). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 794

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Monopoly concentration, imperialism, and interventionism destroyed the premise that society forms a rational system — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2390; Friedman deliberately balanced utopian ideals against incremental politically feasible proposals — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 493; Friedman reversed the classical liberal claim that monopoly suppresses competition — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1118 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Friedman came to see monopoly as persisting only through explicit government support #contradicts (0.88) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1116
• Friedman reversed the classical liberal claim that monopoly suppresses competition #corroborates (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1118
• Friedman came to see competition as the natural check limiting monopoly power #contradicts (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1117
• Neoliberalism inverted classical liberalism by defending monopoly and corporate power #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 175