To celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of Free To Choose, we are sharing some of Milton Friedman’s most compelling talks. In this original recording from 1978, the question asked is, “Who Protects the Consumer?”

Consumer legislation doesn’t protect the consumer in the end. Rather, it benefits the consumer advocates, including reformers, special interest groups, and regulatory agencies. What does protect the consumer? Alternative sources of supply at variable prices are the inevitable result of international competition-free trade.

Milton does not mince words when it comes to his perception of the matter, “These agencies, these regulations, these bureaucrats have not only picked our pocket but they have left us less well-protected than we were before. When we as consumers really need help, we will find the self-styled consumer advocates conspicuous by their absence. Now let me emphasize that I’m not questioning the motives of the people involved. You know there’s an old saying that you all know about what it is that the road to hell is paved with. Intentions are one thing; it’s results we want to look at.”

So what are the results? Take a listen in the podcast Milton Friedman Speaks – “Who Protects the Consumer?.” It was originally recorded back in 1978.