Editing Neoliberalism (section)

=== Economic and political freedom ===
{{Main|Economic freedom|Political freedom}}
{{quote box|Economic and political freedom are inextricably linked with each other. There cannot be any question of liberty and religious and intellectual tolerance where there is no economic freedom.{{sfnp|Burgin|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BnZ1qKdXojoC&pg=PA117 117}}|author=—[[Ludwig von Mises]] |width=35% |align=right |quoted=1 |salign=right}}
Many neoliberal thinkers advance the view that economic and political freedom are inextricably linked. [[Milton Friedman]] argued in his book ''[[Capitalism and Freedom]]'' that [[economic freedom]], while itself an extremely important component of [[freedom|absolute freedom]], is also a necessary condition for [[political freedom]]. He claimed that [[centrally planned economy|centralized control of economic activities]] is always accompanied by [[political repression]]. In his view, the voluntary character of all transactions in an unregulated market economy and the wide diversity of choices that it permits pose fundamental threats to repressive political leaders by greatly diminishing their power to coerce people economically. Through the elimination of centralized control of economic activities, [[economic power]] is separated from political power and each can serve as a counterbalance to the other. Friedman feels that competitive capitalism is especially important to minority groups since impersonal market forces protect people from discrimination in their economic activities for reasons unrelated to their productivity.<ref name="Friedman-2002">{{cite book |first=Milton |last=Friedman |author-link=Milton Friedman |title=Capitalism and freedom |date=2002 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=0-226-26421-1 |pages=8–21}}</ref> In ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'', [[Friedrich Hayek]] offered a similar argument: "Economic control is not merely control of a sector of human life which can be separated from the rest; it is the control of the means for all our ends".<ref name="Chicago Press 1944 p.95"/>