This Fox News interview with Milton Friedman provides the usual dose of Professor Friedman’s provocative thoughts about economic freedom and the costs of governmental interference in markets, but also provides the following common sense analysis on why shifting health care and education finance from markets to the government is intrinsically inefficient:

There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money.
Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost.
Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch!
Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income.

By the way, Professor Friedman is 92 years old and still as sharp as a tack! Hat tip to Arnold Kling for the link to this interesting interview.