Despite health care bill, founder of the Chicago School has "hope" for "change."

Former Reagan Speechwriter Peter Robinson interviewed Gary Becker for the WSJ today. And while Becker doesn't expect the health care mess (and he does think the latest bill is a mess) can be undone, he does think voters will turn back to the markets and away from big government in November. He remarks on the temptation for Americans to trust politicians over capitalists, even though the latter have done more to lift people from poverty:

"Or look at developing countries," he says. "China, India, Brazil. A billion people have been lifted out of poverty since 1990 because their countries moved toward more market-based economies—a billion people. Nobody's arguing for taking that back."

After Robinson quotes Chicago-school co-founder Friedman on the need for this generation to keep the intellectual defense of liberty that Friedman and colleagues provided, Becker says this:

"When I think of my children and grandchildren," he says, "yes, they'll have to fight. Liberty can't be had on the cheap. But it's not a hopeless fight. It's not a hopeless fight by any means. I remain basically an optimist."