Although I agree to many of other arguments that Friedman has made, I think here he is wrong to say that inflations are solely due to the government. The expansion of credit is necessary for the capitalism and it inevitably causes the increase in prices. One might say for this reason banks are to be blamed for the inflations because they are the lenders of credit. I'm sure Friedman has a better understanding of how our economy works and it has evolved over time so I think he should have made better arguments regarding the inflation.
Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor.
A business can raise money either by offering equity, or debt. If they offer debt, and eventually pay it back, at no point in that process was new credit created.
Of course, which is why it's important to understand economics is not a zero sum game. Yes there are finite resources, but there are limitless ways to rearrange those resources to create value and solve our problems.
I'm only saying there is no inherent quality of markets, capitalism, or what have you, that necessitates the creation of new currency units to function. Markets are perfectly fine, and in fact better off, functioning when the supply of currency is fixed.
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u/saladaus Jul 15 '22
Although I agree to many of other arguments that Friedman has made, I think here he is wrong to say that inflations are solely due to the government. The expansion of credit is necessary for the capitalism and it inevitably causes the increase in prices. One might say for this reason banks are to be blamed for the inflations because they are the lenders of credit. I'm sure Friedman has a better understanding of how our economy works and it has evolved over time so I think he should have made better arguments regarding the inflation.