Editing Free to Choose (section)

==Overview==
''Free to Choose: A Personal Statement'' maintains that the free market works best for all members of a society, provides examples of how the free market engenders prosperity, and maintains that it can solve problems where other approaches have failed. Published in January 1980, the 297 page book contains 10 chapters. The book was on top of the United States best sellers list for 5 weeks.

[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] broadcast the programs, beginning in January 1980. It was filmed at the invitation of Robert Chitester, the owner of [[WQLN (TV)|WQLN-TV]]. It was based on a 15-part series of taped public lectures and question-and-answer sessions. The general format was that of Milton Friedman visiting and narrating a number of success and failure stories in history, which he attributes to free-market capitalism or the lack thereof (e.g., Hong Kong is commended for its free markets, while India is excoriated for relying on [[centralized planning]] especially for its [[protectionism|protection]] of its traditional [[textile industry]]). Following the primary show, Friedman would engage in discussion moderated by [[Robert McKenzie (psephologist)|Robert McKenzie]] with a number of selected debaters drawn from trade unions, academy and the business community, such as [[Donald Rumsfeld]] (then of [[G.D. Searle & Company]]) and [[Frances Fox Piven]] of [[City University of New York]]. The interlocutors would offer objections to or support for the proposals put forward by Friedman, who would in turn respond. After the final episode, Friedman sat down for an interview with [[Lawrence E. Spivak|Lawrence Spivak]].

===Guest debaters===
Guest debaters included:
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* [[Gregory Anrig]] (Commissioner of [[Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education|Massachusetts Department of Education]]) – Episode 6
* [[Jagdish Bhagwati]] (economist) – Episode 2
* [[Samuel Bowles (economist)|Samuel Bowles]] (economist) – Vol. 3 Episode 5
* William H. Brady (Founder and President of [[Brady Corporation|W.H. Brady Co.]]) – Episode 8
* [[Bud Brown (politician)|Clarence J. Brown]] (politician) – Episode 9
* [[Joan Claybrook]] (Administrator of the [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]]) – Episode 7
* [[Barber Conable]] (politician, President of the [[World Bank]]) – Episode 1
* [[John Coons]] ([[Legal education|law professor]], [[school choice]] activist) – Episode 6
* [[Robert Crandall]] ([[Brookings Institution]] economist) – Episode 7
* [[Richard Deason]] ([[International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers|IBEW]] [[Trade union|union]] leader) – Episode 2
* [[James R. Dumpson]] ([[bureaucrat]], [[social work]]er, [[Academia|academic]]) – Episode 4
* [[Otmar Emminger]] (President of [[Deutsche Bundesbank]]) – Episode 9
* [[Bob Galvin]] (CEO of [[Motorola|Motorola, Inc.]]) – Episode 1
* Ernest Green ([[United States Department of Labor|U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor]]) – Episode 8
* [[Michael Harrington]] (author, [[Academia|academic]], activist) – Episode 1
* [[Nicholas von Hoffman]] (journalist, [[Pundit (expert)|political commentator]]/columnist) – Episode 3
* [[Helen Hughes (economist)|Helen Hughes]] (economist) – Episode 2
* [[Peter Jay (diplomat)|Peter Jay]] (economist, journalist, diplomat) – Episodes 3, 5
* [[Robert Lampman]] (economist) – Episode 4
* [[Richard Landau]] ([[Medical education|medical professor]]) – Episode 7
* [[Robert Lekachman]] (economist) – Episode 3
* [[William McChesney Martin]] (former [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve]]) – Episode 9
* [[Helen O'Bannon|Helen Bohen O'Bannon]] (economist, bureaucrat, social worker) – Episode 4
* [[Kathleen O'Reilly]] ([[Consumer Federation of America]] [[Consumer activism|consumer advocate]]) – Episode 7
* [[Russell W. Peterson]] ([[chemist]], politician) – Episode 1
* [[Frances Fox Piven]] (academic) – Episode 5
* [[Donald Rumsfeld]] (politician, President of [[G. D. Searle & Company]]) – Episode 2
* [[Albert Shanker]] (President of [[United Federation of Teachers]] and [[American Federation of Teachers]] teachers' unions) – Episode 6
* Thomas Shannon (executive director of the [[National School Boards Association]]) – Episode 6
* [[Thomas Sowell]] (economist, author, columnist) – Episodes 4, 5
* [[Beryl Wayne Sprinkel]] (Executive Vice President of [[BMO Harris Bank|Harris Bank]]) – Episode 9
* [[Peter Temin]] (economist) – Episode 3
* [[Lynn R. Williams]] (International Secretary of [[United Steelworkers]]) – Episode 8
* [[Walter E. Williams]] (economist, political commentator) – Episode 8
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===1990 rebroadcast===
The series was rebroadcast in 1990 with [[Linda Chavez]] moderating the episodes. [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], [[George Shultz]], [[Ronald Reagan]], [[David D. Friedman]], and [[Steve Allen]], each give personal introductions for one episode. This time, after the documentary segment, Milton Friedman sits down with a single discussion participant to debate the points raised in the episode.