A concise book on what in years past was considered “liberal.” Many policy issues from this book, first published in 1962, will seem outlandish. Nevertheless Friedman makes his case, grounding his theories in data available to him at the time. Worth a read even from those who may disagree with his conclusions.

Friedman presents a simple, indeed often simplistic, argument in favor of an economic system characterized by the nearly unfettered operation of the free market coupled with a minimalist state apparatus. Though the book represented a radical position at the time it was written, many of Friedman's positions seem uncontroversial and common sensical today. It is a testament to Friedman's influence that this is so. In the forty or so years since Capitalism and Freedom first appeared, Friedman's thought has played a role in mainstream politics' drift in a direction far more congenial to his laissez faire beliefs than the New Deal Progressivism that still prevailed in the 1960s.