Milton Friedman on Slavery and Colonization

This clip is from the 15-part lecture series, “Milton Friedman Speaks“ Transcript available via FreedomChannel: Summary: A student poses a question to Milton Friedman in which he asks for an appraisal of just how exactly the riches that now exist in the so called “capitalist democracies“ were obtained and how those countries became so rich so quick. Specifically he asks Friedman to account for the effect that having free labor derived from slavery allowed them to enrich themselves, and how the possession of colonies allowed rich countries to bleed wealth out of their colonial domains. Friedman responds by claiming it’s simply untrue that the wealth that arose in Western countries was due to slavery. Slavery was a disgrace and a blot on the United States’ record, but many rich Western nations did not have sl