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abandon many of their inflationary programs and practices. The Nixon Administration this year began a joint Government-business-labor effort to avoid work stoppages, end restrictive practices and reduce price increases in construction, the nation's most flagrantly inflation-ridden industry. The highly inflated costs of medical care could be brought down if a powerful union—the American Medical Association—would permit less highly trained "paramedical" workers to perform simple functions like applying bandages and giving injections. Federal purchases could be more adroitly timed to take advantage of favorable prices. Government regulatory agencies might abolish minimum rates for freight shipments and other transportation, and permit competition to take over again. Oil-import quotas, which cost gasoline consumers at least $4 billion a year, could be revised or scrapped. Fair-trade laws, which place floors under the prices of some goods, might also be repealed. These are the sort of moves that economists as far apart as Walter Heller and Milton Friedman agree should be made.
Friedman deprecates the role of his rhetoric in winning acceptance for his ideas. "People are persuaded by the evidence of experience," he says. As for his own role, he adds: "all one can hope to do is move things in the direction they ought to go. I try to be specific about the ideal and not worry too much about what at the moment is realistic." By following that precept, Milton Friedman has done much to revive faith in the competitive market and to change the theories by which nations guide their commercial destinies.
