Context:
Widely quoted from Friedman's remarks in The Observer (London), 22 September 1974, amid the high inflation and currency turmoil that followed the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Friedman developed the underlying argument at length that same year in his essay "Monetary Correction" (Institute of Economic Affairs, 1974; reprinted in Essays on Inflation and Indexation, American Enterprise Institute, 1974): governments can quietly finance spending by expanding the money supply, eroding the purchasing power of every unit of currency already held, without ever passing a tax bill or facing a legislative vote.