"One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results."
— Milton Friedman
One Of The Great Mistakes Is
One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.
About this quote
Friedman made this observation in a televised interview with Richard Heffner on The Open Mind, recorded December 7, 1975. It encapsulates his longstanding critique of policy evaluation in economics and political science: that analysts, voters, and legislators habitually judge programs by their stated aims rather than their measurable consequences. He applied this standard throughout his career, from rent control (well-intentioned but destructive) to minimum wage laws (designed to help workers but raising unemployment among the least skilled).
Source
Interview with Richard Heffner, The Open Mind, December 7, 1975
