<<  <  >  >>

and so on. Friedman's view was the complete

provided (that interest in free markets grew as

opposite of what Klein pretends it is.10

communism failed in China and the Soviet

Union, and the United States and United

In the same manner, Klein conveys the

Kingdom suffered from stagflation), it is obvi-

image of the "Chicago school" of economics

ous that Friedman was not advocating shocks

as a home for dogmatists and fundamental-

and crises to force anyone to abandon the old

ists, brainwashing their students and plotting

ways that they cling to, but merely observing

their global power grab. The reality is that the

people themselves demanded change when old

Chicago school became eminent not just for

systems failed. But in the rest of the book, Klein

its quality but for its openness. All ideas were

pretends that she has proved that Friedman

welcome as long as you could argue well.

was in favor of deliberately provoking crises.

Friedman himself listed "tolerance for diversi-

Klein also provides supporting quotes to

ty" as one of the reasons for the Chicago

School's success.11 After having talked to

strengthen this interpretation, and they are

taken out of context in the same manner. She

Friedman's former colleagues and students,

pretends that Friedman's concept of the

his biographer Lanny Ebenstein writes that he

"tyranny of the status quo" means the tyran-

encouraged students to learn from other

ny of voters, and that a crisis was needed for

approaches than his own and he didn't try to

Friedman never

politicians to bypass the democratic process.6

convert them to his positions. His method was

worked as an

For Friedman, the tyranny of the status quo

the rigorous testing of hypotheses with empir-

was something entirely different--an iron tri-

ical data, and he was quick to admit mistakes

adviser to

when someone else found them in his work.12

angle of politicians, bureaucrats, and special

Pinochet and

interest groups (businesses, for example) who

never accepted a

advance their own welfare at the voters'

Six Days in Chile

expense.7

penny from the

When Klein talks about Friedman's sug-

Chilean regime.

gestions to reduce inflation, she writes,

Klein cites the influence of Milton Fried-

"Friedman predicted that the speed, sudden-

man's economic views on Augusto Pinochet's

military dictatorship in Chile in the 1970s as

ness and scope of the economic shifts would

provoke psychological reactions in the public

evidence that free markets rely on tyranny and

that `facilitate the adjustment.'"8

torture. She writes that Friedman acted as

"adviser to the Chilean dictator."13 This is

Klein gives the impression that Friedman

was brutal and wanted to inflict pain to dis-

wrong. Friedman never worked as an adviser

orient people and push his reforms through.

and never accepted a penny from the Chilean

The use of the words "psychological reactions"

regime. He even turned down two honorary

is also important, because Klein tries to associ-

degrees from Chilean universities that received

ate liberal reforms with psychological torture

government funding because he thought it

and electrical shocks. But the quote in its

could be interpreted as a support for the

entirety shows that Friedman had something

regime.

very different in mind. He actually wrote that

However, he was in Chile for six days in

if a government chooses to attack inflation in

March 1975 to give public lectures, invited by

this way: "I believe that it should be an-

a private foundation. When he was there he

nounced publicly in great detail . . . . The more

also met once with Pinochet for around 45

fully the public is informed, the more will its

minutes, and wrote him one letter afterwards,

reactions facilitate the adjustment."9

arguing for a plan to end hyperinflation and

In other words, if the people are not igno-

liberalize the economy. That was the same

rant, and not disoriented, but fully informed

kind of advice Friedman gave to communist

of the reform steps, they would facilitate the

dictatorships like the Soviet Union, China,

adjustment by changing their behavior when

and Yugoslavia, yet nobody would claim he

it comes to negotiations, saving, consuming,

was a communist.

3