Keynes or Friedman nowhere to be found

"Wanted: Worldly Philosophers", an article in the New York times (link in title), talks about the changes that economists have had in regards to approaching capitalism. It used to be that economists were trained to compare and contrast capitalism with other systems or different types of capitalism. However, today economists are trained with a dentistry approach: they should look at a small part of the body but remove a lot pain. They no longer discuss matters as big as "capitalism" and the Friedman and Keynes of current times are no where to be seen. With the recent economic crisis Friedman's ideas were disregarded. The government had to intervene to avoid a new Great Depression. The article proceeds to suggest that we need a new, alternative vision of capitalism.

I think Friedman would disagree with this article. He believes that the role of the government should be strictly limited. The market should be used on as many activities as possible because the market permits unanimity without conformity. On the other hand, the use of political channels strains the social cohesion that is needed for a stable society. Friedman would argue that it was not capitalism as he sees it that was defied with the current financial crisis but rather the over involvement of the government, that is straining the social cohesion of society. Currently, the government plays a role in a lot more than Friedman suggested it should. For example, there are wage controls (minimum wages) and as we discussed in class the state restricts several occupations and enterprises to people who have a license. All this strains the social fabric of society and thus allows for instability. Thus, I think that instead of saying that we need a different approach to capitalism, Friedman would argue that we need to limit the government and allow the market to play a bigger role so that his approach to capitalism leads to a stable society.