Capitalism 2

If this [economic] shock approach were adopted, I believe that it should be announced publicly in great detail, to take effect at a very close date. The more fully the public is informed, the more will its reac­tions facilitate the adjustment.

Naomi Klein (2007: 75)

Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was a Chicago School economist, advocate of neoliberalism, and winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics. The quote comes from a letter Friedman wrote to Chilean dictator Pinochet.

Milton Friedman believed that societies had to be radically changed: economic forces should be allowed to rule freely without any state interference. This concept of freedom has become known in history as neoliberalism. Friedman's main work is called Capitalism and Freedom (1962). However, this freedom primarily means economic freedom, often at the expense of people and nature (see Klein 2010: 85, German edition). Politicians, he argued, should use shock strategies to bring about change towards neoliberal capitalism. According to him, crisis situations such as natural disasters should be exploited for this purpose: it was when societies were in a state of shock as a result of a catastrophe, that economic changes could best be implemented. This was because in such exceptional situations, people would be too overwhelmed to resist "reforms" such as the privatisation of education, health and social security. Friedman and his Chicago Boys (Economists trained at the University of Chicago) experimented with their theories, especially in dictatorships such as Chile under General Pinochet.

Naomi Klein (2007): The Shock Doctrine. The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Toronto: Knopf Canada.

2000