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1976 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences
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  • Milton Friedman

    Milton Friedman (31 July 1912 – 16 November 2006) was an American economist who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler and others, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the second generation of Chicago price theory, a methodological movement at the University of Chicago's Department of Economics, Law School and Graduate School of Business from the 1940s onward. Several students and young professors that were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists; they include Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, Thomas Sowell and Robert Lucas Jr.

    Reference

    Friedman, Milton (1912-2006), by Aaron Steelman, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
    Biographical and bibliographical essay
    Milton Friedman was an American economist and leading representative of the Chicago School during the last half of the 20th century. Friedman received the Nobel Prize in 1976, having made significant contributions to several branches of economic theory, while also writing and speaking on public policy issues from a distinctly free-market perspective ... "Milton Friedman was a giant," stated Paul Samuelson upon Friedman's death. "No 20th-century economist had his importance in moving the American economic profession rightward from 1940 to the present."
    Milton Friedman (1912-2006), The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
    Includes list of selected works
    Milton Friedman was the twentieth century's most prominent advocate of free markets. Born in 1912 to Jewish immigrants in New York City, he attended Rutgers University, where he earned his B.A. at the age of twenty. He went on to earn his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1933 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1946. In 1951 Friedman received the John Bates Clark Medal honoring economists under age forty for outstanding achievement. In 1976 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics ...

    Images

    Milton Friedman - The Advocates
    300x433 JPEG, color

    Born

    31 Jul 1912, in Brooklyn, New York City

    Died

    16 Nov 2006, in San Francisco, California

    Biography

    Laissez Faire Books
    It was F.A. Hayek who inspired Friedman to try influencing public policy for liberty, and he excelled as a popularizer. Nobody was a more effective champion of liberty in a debate. He was charming, he was quick, and he displayed an awesome command of the facts. He expressed his views through a Newsweek column which he wrote for 18 years. He produced op-eds for major newspapers, articles for major magazines, and he was interviewed by Playboy.
    Milton Friedman - Biographical: Nobelprize.org
    Autobiography, originally written in 1976 for the Nobel award, published in 1992 in Nobel Lectures in Economic Sciences: 1969-1980; selection is from a May 2005 addendum
    ... not long after we arrived in California, Bob Chitester persuaded us to join him in producing a major television program presenting my economic and social philosophy. The resulting effort, spread over three years, proved the most exciting adventure of our lives. The end result was Free to Choose, ten one-hour programs, each consisting of a half-hour documentary and a half-hour discussion.
    Milton Friedman | Hoover Institution
    In addition to his scientific work, Friedman also wrote extensively on public policy, always with a primary emphasis on the preservation and extension of individual freedom. His most important books in this field are (with Rose D. Friedman) Capitalism and Freedom ... ; Bright Promises, Dismal Performance ... which consists mostly of reprints of columns he wrote for Newsweek from 1966 to 1983; (with Rose D. Friedman) Free to Choose ..., and (with Rose D. Friedman) Tyranny of the Status Quo ...

    Awards Received

    1976 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
    Includes autobiography, prize lecture and banquet speech
    Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, by Cato Institute
    Biennial award given by the Cato Institute, in honor of Milton Friedman, to an individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom.
    The late Nobel laureate Milton Friedman agreed in 2001 to lend his name to the prize, which has become the leading international award for acknowledging contributions to the promotion of individual liberty. In a statement at the time he said: "Those of us who were fortunate enough to live and be raised in a reasonably free society tend to underestimate the importance of freedom. We tend to take it for granted. It has made us in the West more complacent, so having a prize emphasizing liberty is extremely important."

    Associations

    EdChoice, Founder
    Hoover Institution, Senior Research Fellow
    Mont Pelerin Society, President, 1970-72

    Web Pages

    Laissez Faire Books: Clint Bolick
    Short biographical and bibliographical profile, followed by "Clint Bolick's Favorite Titles" (commentary on his five favorite books)
    Milton Friedman's Free to Choose is a joyous celebration of capitalism. Reading it in college led to C's in my Keynesian economics class but to a clear grasp of the essentials of economics. There is no better primer in economics for the mathematics-challenged person like me. Many of Friedman's prophecies have come true, and many of his prescriptions have been adopted—leading to unprecedented freedom and prosperity. Free to Choose remains the essential economics text.
    Milton Friedman - Libertarianism.org
    Short profile and links to essays, columns and other resources about Friedman
    Economist Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economic Science, was one of the most recognizable and influential proponents of liberty and markets in the 20th century, and leader of the Chicago School of economics.
    Milton Friedman - Online Library of Liberty
    Includes picture, short profile and links to some podcasts about Friedman and some of his writings
    Milton Friedman (1912-2007) is the author of many books and articles in economics, including A Theory of the Consumption Function, The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays, and (with A. J. Schwartz) A Monetary History of the United States, Monetary Statistics of the United States, and Monetary Trends in the United States and the United Kingdom. Friedman has also written extensively on public policy, always with a primary emphasis on the preservation and extension of individual freedom.
    Milton Friedman - The Advocates
    Biography, picture and quotes
    Milton Friedman was not just one of the world's most distinguished economists -- he may have also been America's most famous and influential libertarian. Writing in Liberty magazine (February 2007), Bruce Ramsey made the argument that 'Milton Friedman was not just a figure in the libertarian movement. He was, to Americans generally, a figure emblematic of freedom.'

    Bibliography

    Milton Friedman at IDEAS
    RePEc (Research Papers in Economics): 15 books, 102 book chapters, 77 articles, 2 working papers and 9 reading lists

    Articles

    35 Heroes of Freedom: Celebrating the people who have made the world groovier and groovier since 1968, by Reason, Reason, Dec 2003
    "Eclectic, irreverent" list of individuals who, according to Reason editors, "have made the world a freer, better, and more libertarian place by example, invention, or action" (includes the unknown martyr of Tiananmen Square and "The Yuppie")
    The 91-year-old Nobel Prize-winning economist didn't just co-author Free to Choose, the book that pumped up Arnold Schwarzenegger's mind. He's brought libertarian ideas both to a mass audience and to the elite ranks of policy makers, helped to end the draft and discredit wage and price controls, popularized the privatization of schooling and pensions, and made criticism of the war on drugs respectable.
    Capitalism, by Stephen Davies, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
    Examines the origins of the term "capitalism" and describes distinctive features of a modern capitalist market economy; includes list of works for further reading
    The actual word capitalism is of comparatively recent origin ... [I]ts first extended use ... came in 1902 in Werner Sombart's Der Moderne Kapitalismus ... [It] was a term of opprobrium, but, as so often happens, it was soon taken up by its targets as a badge of honor ... [I]t is only since the 1960s that capitalism has come to be used by both sides of in the argument in equal measure. One important milestone in this process was the publication in 1962 of Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom, one of the first popular books to employ the term in an unabashedly positive way.
    Related Topics: Capitalism, Libertarianism
    The Early History of FEE, by Henry Hazlitt, The Freeman, Mar 1984
    Excerpted from Hazlitt's remarks at the Leonard E. Read Memorial Conference on Freedom, November 1983; reprinted in the May 2006 issue, including photos of early FEE senior staff
    [I]n an amazingly short time a stream of publications began to pour forth [from FEE] ... [In September 1946] came a 22-page pamphlet called Roofs or Ceilings?, an attack on rent control, sent in by two young fellows from the University of Chicago, Milton Friedman and George J. Stigler, both destined to become future recipients of the Nobel prize in economics. FEE distributed 36,000 of these, plus a special condensed version of 500,000 copies for the National Association of Real Estate Boards ... I see no evidence that the Friedman-Stigler pamphlet did anything to slow down rent control.
    Economic Fascism and the Bailout Economy, by Gary North, 7 Feb 2009
    Discusses the fascist roots of the U.S. political system and events since September 2008 to extend government control of private institutions
    Milton Friedman was little more than an acolyte to Irving Fisher on the money question ... [T]he Federal Reserve can do no wrong today, because it did wrong from 1929 to 1933, and Milton Friedman exposed this for all to see. What was a great evil of the Federal Reserve during that period, according to Friedman? It did not inflate to offset the contraction of money due to collapsing banks. Friedman hated free market banking. He disparaged the gold standard. He believed in government control over money. At the core of the free market is money. At the core of Friedman's economics was the State.
    Friedrich the Great, by Virginia Postrel, The Boston Globe, 11 Jan 2004
    Biographical essay, including Hayek's insights on cognitive science and his influence on postmodernism
    Economist Milton Friedman calls [Hayek] "the most important social thinker of the 20th century." Hayek's most significant contribution, [Friedman] explains, "was to make clear how our present complex social structure is not the result of the intended actions of individuals but of the unintended consequences of individual interactions over a long period of time, the product of social evolution, not of deliberate planning."
    The Inherently Humble Libertarian, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 13 Feb 2015
    Defends libertarianism from those who charge its advocates of "know-it-allness"
    For example, Milton Friedman, in his 1991 Liberty article, "Say 'No' to Intolerance”, wrote,
    I have no right to coerce someone else, because I cannot be sure that I am right and he is wrong. If we see someone doing something wrong, someone starting to sin (to use a theological term) let alone just make a simple mistake, how do we justify not initiating coercion? Are we not sinning if we don't stop him? ... How do I justify letting him sin? I believe that the ... answer is, can I be sure he's sinning? Can I be sure that I am right and he is wrong? That I know what sin is?
    Related Topics: Libertarianism, Adam Smith
    A Libertarian Odyssey, by Ken Schoolland
    Part of Walter Block's autobiography series; reprinted in Walter Block's I Chose Liberty (2010), chapter 66
    A filmed debate over monetary and fiscal policy was my introduction to Milton Friedman's brilliance and wit so I soon devoured his book Capitalism and Freedom. I came to realize that the market was a remarkable phenomenon that offered solutions to problems that were only made worse by politics. While Milton will always be my first great economics hero, my views later favored the direction of his son, David, in The Machinery of Freedom ... My most memorable moment came when my dear friend Geo Olsson, introduced JG [The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible] to Milton Friedman, my single greatest inspiration.
    The life and times of F.A. Hayek, who explained why political liberty is impossible without economic liberty, by Jim Powell, 2000
    Lengthy biographical essay, with extensive quotes; alternate version of "The Worst on Top" chapter of The Triumph of Liberty (2000)
    "Over the years," Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman remarked, "I have again and again asked fellow believers in a free society how they managed to escape the contagion of their collectivist intellectual environment. No name has been mentioned more often as the source of enlightenment and understanding than Friedrich Hayek's ... I, like the others, owe him a great debt ... his powerful mind ... his lucid and always principled exposition have helped to broaden and deepen my understanding of the meaning and the requisites of a free society."
    The life and times of Murray N. Rothbard, by Jim Powell
    Full title: The life and times of Murray N. Rothbard, who showed why private individuals can do just about everything that needs to be done
    Lengthy biographical essay
    The same year [Rothbard's] America's Great Depression was published, Princeton University Press published A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960 by Milton Friedman and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. They agreed with Rothbard that the stock crash didn't cause the Great Depression. They, too, nailed the federal government as the culprit responsible for the Great Depression, although their approach was very different. Friedman and Schwartz gathered statistics for the money supply, the gross national product and employment, and they looked for correlations among these.
    UpdA Man, a Plan, a Flop, by David Gordon, Mises Daily, 23 Apr 2006
    Critical review of Charles Murray's In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State (2006)
    Murray rejects the libertarian approach because it is unacceptable to the American public ... He cannot then imagine himself a Milton Friedman and say, e.g., "Ideally government should play no role in education. But the public will not accept this. Instead, educational vouchers are the closest to the free market that we can in practice attain." Friedman thought that his proposals were realistic; and however much one may disagree with them—would not vouchers lead to more government control, rather than less?—one can grant that he had a case worth presenting.
    Milton and Rose Friedman: Capitalism's Greatest Living Champions: Eight ways you can learn from their success, by Jim Powell, Jul 1992
    Written on occasion of Milton Friedman's 80th birthday; discusses eight techniques used by the Friedmans to reach and persuade others with their message of freedom and free markets
    More than anyone else, Milton and Rose Friedman took a compelling case for free markets to the world. Ayn Rand has sold more books, but the Friedmans reached millions who probably never read a good book about freedom--through countless lectures, TV appearances and, of course, their Free to Choose TV series. This son of a Ruthenian clothing merchant and daughter of a Polish door-to-door clothing salesman have influenced economists, political leaders and lay people alike. Smuggled versions of their work helped keep the torch of liberty burning in brutal police states.
    Milton Friedman (1912-2006), by Richard M. Ebeling, Sheldon Richman, 17 Nov 2006
    Memorial tribute, highlighting Friedman's role in opposing Keynesianism, and his books and other public activities (a revised version appeared in The Freeman Dec 2006)
    As influential as Friedman's academic work was among professional economists, he had as profound an impact on non-economists' thinking about the virtues of free markets and limited government. At a time when popular writing that went against the collectivist grain had few mass outlets, Friedman managed to reach a wide audience with his clear and good natured-style. He accomplished this through many books, a long-running ... column, and his 1980 television series, ... based on his bestselling book ... [H]is legacy and devotion to liberty will inspire freedom lovers for many generations.
    Milton Friedman, 1912-2006, by Hans F. Sennholz, 7 Dec 2006
    Memorial essay, but critical of professor Friedman's advocacy of monetary policies which would leave money issuance in hands of the government
    Few American economists have wielded as much influence on economic thought and policy as the late Milton Friedman. He was an articulate and ardent advocate of free markets and personal liberty. In 1962, his Capitalism and Freedom ... pointed the way not only to economic but also political freedom ... He was a passionate critic of all versions of socialism and a fervent censor of Keynesian economics which stands as the most influential economic formulation of the 20th century. One of the most prolific writers of his time, Professor Friedman wrote many pertinent economic columns in Newsweek.
    Related Topics: Banking, Gold Standard, Money
    Milton Friedman at 90, by Thomas Sowell, 29 Jul 2002
    Recounts some of Sowell's experiences as Friedman's student and later as friend and admirer
    John Maynard Keynes was the reigning demi-god among economists when Friedman's career began, and Friedman himself was at first a follower of Keynesian doctrines and liberal politics. Yet no one did more to dismantle both Keynesian economics and liberal welfare-state thinking. As late as the 1950s, those with the prevailing Keynesian orthodoxy were still able to depict Milton Friedman as a fringe figure ... But the intellectual power of his ideas, the fortitude with which he persevered, and the ever more apparent failures of Keynesian analyses and policies, began to change all that ...
    UpdMilton Friedman RIP, by Walter Block, Mises Daily, 16 Nov 2006
    In memoriam, focusing on Friedman's positives and including several personal recollections
    Milton was a beacon of light on issues such as the minimum wage law, free trade, and rent control ... Milton's valiant, witty, wise, eloquent and yes, I'll say it, inspirational analysis on [the minimum wage] must stand out as an example to us all. Another of the high points of his career, for me, was his "Open Letter" to then drug czar Bill Bennett ... I was amazed and delighted at his pugnaciousness in defense of liberty. He would engage seemingly everyone in debate on libertarian issues: waitresses, cameramen, the person placing the microphone on his lapel. He was tireless, humorous, enthusiastic.
    Milton Friedman, R.I.P., by Jacob G. Hornberger, 17 Nov 2006
    In memoriam, relates three personal interactions with Friedman which where "big personal highlights" for Hornberger
    In 1988 ... I attended a Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Indianapolis. At an evening outdoor barbecue, I just happened to bump into Friedman and introduced myself. He spent the next 20 minutes or so talking with me as if he and I were equals. In fact, if I hadn't known differently, I would have never known he was a Nobel Prize winning economist or even that he was a major intellectual force in the world of economics. He displayed absolutely no pretentiousness whatsoever, talked just like an ordinary person, and treated me like I was a very important person.
    Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 27: Milton Friedman's Second Thoughts on the Costs of Paper Money, by Richard M. Ebeling, Freedom Daily, Mar 1999
    Discusses how Friedman changed his mind about the advisability of a paper money standard
    Milton Friedman ... had advocated a fiat or paper money standard guided by a monetary rule of an annual expansion of the money supply at a fixed rate because he believed that it was less costly than a gold standard ... But by the mid 1980s, Friedman had second thoughts about whether government could be trusted ever to follow the necessary restraint ... [I]n 1986, Friedman coauthored an article with Anna Schwartz ... that asked the question, "Has Government Any Role in Money?" They concluded that in principle it did not need to have one and historically sometimes had none.
    Related Topics: Gold Standard, Government, Money
    Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part XXIV: Milton Friedman's Framework for Economic Stability, by Richard M. Ebeling, Freedom Daily, Dec 1998
    Describes Friedman's criticisms of Keynesian policies and examines Friedman's own proposals for government intervention in the economy
    In the post-World War II period in the United States, there have been few voices as important for the defense of the free market as that of Milton Friedman. In his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom, he forcefully challenged the trend towards increasing government control over economic life. [He] eloquently argued that economic liberty was vital for the preservation of both personal and political freedom ... It is not an exaggeration to say that Friedman was a prime mover in significantly changing the focus of postwar macroeconomic theory from the direction given to it by Keynes in the 1930s.
    Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part XXVI: Milton Friedman and the Monetary "Rule" for Economic Stability, by Richard M. Ebeling, Freedom Daily, Feb 1999
    Examines Friedman's arguments, in a 1967 speech to the American Economic Association, about what monetary policy could not accomplish and his defense of a paper money standard in the 1960 book A Program for Monetary Stability
    In 1967, Milton Friedman delivered the presidential address at the American Economic Association ... He argued that there was "wide agreement about the major goals of economic policy: high employment, stable prices, and rapid growth" ... Friedman emphasized what he believed an active monetary policy could not succeed in permanently doing. First, [it] could not permanently lower interest rates below the level that the market forces of supply and demand would tend to establish ... Second, [it] could not permanently push unemployment below a market-determined "natural rate."
    Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part XXV: Milton Friedman and the Demand for Money, by Richard M. Ebeling, Freedom Daily, Jan 1999
    Describes the role of money according to Keynesians and contrasts it with Friedman's monetary theories in his 1956 essay "The Quantity Theory of Money–A Restatement"
    The most thoroughgoing criticism of this Keynesian conception ... was made by Milton Friedman. In 1956, Friedman edited a collection of essays entitled Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money, for which he wrote the introductory essay, entitled "The Quantity Theory of Money–A Restatement." ... Friedman's conclusion ... was that if the demand for money was far more stable than the Keynesians had assumed, then significant short-run fluctuations in economywide output and employment, as well as price inflations and deflations, had to have their source in changes in the supply of money.
    Related Topics: Government, Inflation, Money
    Money and Banking, by Lawrence H. White, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
    Discusses some of the issues regarding money, whether state- or privately issued, and banking, including central banks, such as the Federal Reserve, fractional reserve banking and free (fully unregulated) banking
    [M]onetary historian and free-market economist Milton Friedman had argued early in his career that negative external effects associated with free banking justified a state monopoly of coin and paper currency ... Later in his career, Friedman reconsidered and endorsed competitive note issue in light of new findings ... that bad results under so-called free banking in the United States were due to poorly conceived regulations, whereas a relatively free market in other countries showed good results. In principle, Friedman supported a well-​managed state fiat money over a gold standard ...
    Money in the 1920s and 1930s, by Richard Timberlake, The Freeman, Apr 1999
    Attempts to set the record straight on the economic and monetary events of the 1920s and early 1930s, arguing against both the Austrian view (as expressed by Murray Rothbard) and those who put the blame on stock market speculation
    In their Monetary History of the United States, Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz conclude their summary of the monetary events of the 1920s with this paragraph: "Gold movements were not permitted to affect the total of high-powered money [bank reserves and currency]. They were ... sterilized, inflows being offset by open market sales, outflows by open market purchases." ... "The widespread belief that what goes up must come down, ... have led many to suppose that the United States experienced severe inflation before 1929 ... Nothing could be further from the truth ..." [Emphasis added]
    Mont Pelerin: 1947-1978: The Road to Libertarianism, by Ralph Raico, Libertarian Review, Jan 1979
    Reviews the presentations and discussions at the 1978 meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, with an overview of the Society's history and particularly the 1958 meeting which had similar themes
    Friedman said that he was tired of trying to define money, that he believed government intervention in money was inevitable, and that therefore, the proper role of an economist was to advocate sensible interventions. He was enthusiastic about the tax-revolt in the United States, and advocated a constitutional amendment which would establish the rules that the monetary authority should follow ... Friedman hoped that it would be possible to convince the public to pressure governments into introducing monetary stability in the face of increasing inflation and destability.
    The Mont Pelerin Society's 50th Anniversary, by Greg Kaza, The Freeman, Jun 1997
    Historical and anecdotal essay about the founding of the Mont Pelerin Society and its first meeting, including insights on post World War II Germany
    The emerging Chicago School was represented by Milton Friedman, his brother-in-law Aaron Director, Frank H. Knight, and George J. Stigler ... Stigler continues, "I was instrumental, for the only time in my life, in instructing Friedman on monetary affairs. We sought to convert some dollars into francs at the unofficial exchange rate rather than the official rate that greatly overvalued the franc ..." ... Asked to assess the [Mont Pelerin] Society's place in history, Milton Friedman answered, "That is an open-ended question we cannot answer. ... It certainly played a part."
    Party makes bid for Silicon Valley support, Libertarian Party News, Jan 1999
    Describes the visit by LP leaders and other libertarians to a Cato Institute conference in Silicon Valley in November 1998
    The conference attracted a flock of high-tech executives, research professionals, politicians, and authors — including ... Milton Friedman (Nobel-prize-winning free-market economist) ... Many of [Dan] Fylstra's themes were echoed by Nobel-laureate Milton Friedman, who warned in his speech about "the suicidal impulse of business" and its proclivity to cozy up to the political establishment.
    Related Topic: Libertarian Party
    UpdThe Power of Persuasion, by Jeff Riggenbach, Mises Daily, 20 May 2011
    Historical account of the Persuasion magazine, edited by Joan Kennedy Taylor between Sept 1964 and May 1968
    [William F.] Buckley would propose a program of "universal voluntary national service for men and women 18 years of age and older," ... Milton Friedman never went quite that far. But he did tell the New York Times Magazine for May 14, 1967, that in a time of "total war," if military and civilian authorities decreed that "there would be time and reason to expand the armed forces manifold, either universal military training to provide a trained reserve force, or stand-by provisions for conscription could be justified."
    Reading the Literature of Liberty, by Roy A. Childs, Jr., May 1987
    Childs' selection of "great books" on liberty and libertarianism, including works by Hazlitt, Bastiat, Rose Wilder Lane, Nock, Ayn Rand, Friedman, Hayek, Rothbard, Mises and Nozick
    Probably the only libertarian whose public visibility is even greater than Ayn Rand is the ubiquitous Milton Friedman, the most respected advocate of capitalism of our time. His 1962 work Capitalism and Freedom is in my view the best statement of his viewpoint. Here you'll see a great mind at work, and appreciate the power of quiet eloquence. And if you ever get the chance, don't pass up an opportunity to witness Milton Friedman's genius is all its glory: the ten hour PBS series Free to Choose.
    The Reagan Record On Trade: Rhetoric Vs. Reality [PDF], by Sheldon Richman, Policy Analysis, 30 May 1988
    Analysis of Reagan's stance on free trade and protectionism, contrasting what he and those in his administration said with a lengthy list of actual quotas, tariffs and trade negotiation results
    Milton Friedman [wrote] that the Reagan administration has been "making Smoot-Hawley look positively benign." Of course, the administration sometimes claims that it adopted mild restrictions to head off a rabidly protectionist Congress. But, as Friedman put it,
    Poor excuse. The president retains his veto power. While Congress might have overridden some of his vetoes, it would have been clear where the blame lay. As it is, the administration has given members of Congress—of both parties—a free ride. They enjoy the luxury of supporting special interests ... while avoiding the responsibility ...
    The Reserve Requirement Debacle of 1935-1938, by Richard Timberlake, The Freeman, Jun 1999
    Delves in greater detail into the reserve requirement policy of the Federal Reserve during 1935-38, discussed in the previous article "Gold Policy in the 1930s"
    Milton Friedman, who reviewed this episode in minute detail, remarked: "Bitter experience during the years from 1929 to 1933 had taught banks that it was not enough to keep ... only the minimum amount required by law; legally required reserves could not be drawn on to meet emergency demands without the banks being liable to closure ... Little wonder that the survivors ... felt it necessary to provide their own protection against unexpected demands. Deposits in excess of required legal reserves were essentially uncovered liabilities for which only the excess of high-powered money over required reserves provided an effective reserve."
    Speaking of Inflation, by Stu Pritchard, Freedom Daily, Jan 2006
    Discusses the common misunderstanding of inflation as rising prices as opposed to the monetary phenomenon
    About 25 years ago, Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman hosted a weekly series on TV titled Free to Choose. In one segment he asked, 'How can inflation be stopped?' Then, with money printing presses shown churning out paper money, he punched the stop button. 'That's how,' he said with emphasis.
    Related Topic: Inflation
    The Story of a Movement, by Peter Boettke, The Freeman, May 1995
    Reflects on the growth of Austrian economics from a set of lectures in South Royalton, Vermont in June 1974 to the current spread through several scholars and institutions, and discusses a Karen Vaughn book on the school and its debates
    In June of 1974 in the little town of South Royalton, Vermont, the modern resurgence of Austrian economics began. ... Even Milton Friedman dropped by for one evening–though Friedman never bought the idea of a unique Austrian economics independent from other schools of neoclassical economics. ... Milton Friedman stated at that South Royalton conference that there was no such thing as Austrian economics–only good economics and bad economics. Well, Friedman was right to an extent. But it turns out that Austrian economics ... provides the foundation for a humanistic, logically sound, and policy-relevant economics.
    Thank You, Milton Friedman, by Sheldon Richman, 20 Nov 2006
    In memoriam, highlighting the many contributions of Milton Friedman both to the economics profession and as a public intellectual through his columns and his television series
    Milton Friedman ... told the economics profession and the public many things they needed to hear ... He pointed out that economic fine-tuning through inflation would do no good in the long run and a lot of harm by reducing people's buying power ... Friedman was one of the great public intellectuals, teaching noneconomists that nothing could improve individual and social well-being as dramatically as free markets. Through his Newsweek column, which ran from 1966 to 1983, and his 1980 television series, Free to Choose, he clearly explained how economic freedom, competition, and the profit-and-loss system make life better for everyone.
    A Tribute to the Polish People, by Lawrence Reed, The Freeman, Oct 2009
    Larry reminisces about a visit with the Polish underground movement in November 1986
    I asked those printers who entertained me that evening how I could help. It turned out that they had a specific request already planned for me. If I could raise $5,000 and channel it to their émigré allies in Paris, they would eventually get the money and be able to translate into Polish and print several thousand copies of Milton and Rose Friedman's classic Free To Choose. Among my most prized possessions is a copy of that book, inscribed by activist Wojciech Modelski with these words: "Thank you, Larry! Without your help it was not be [sic] possible to publish this book."
    Related Topics: Communism, Poland, Ronald Reagan
    The War On Drugs Is Lost, by William F. Buckley Jr., Ethan A. Nadelmann, Kurt Schmoke, Joseph D. McNamara, Robert W. Sweet, Thomas Szasz, Steven B. Duke, National Review, 12 Feb 1996
    Symposium with essays from William F. Buckley Jr., drug policy researcher Ethan A. Nadelmann, Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, former chief of police Joseph D. McNamara, judge Robert W. Sweet, psychiatrist Thomas Szasz and law professor Steven B. Duke
    Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
    ... I said, it can reasonably be held that drug-taking is a contagious disease and, accordingly, subject to the conventional restrictions employed to shield the innocent from Typhoid Mary. Some sport was made of my position by libertarians, including Professor Milton Friedman, who asked whether the police might legitimately be summoned if it were established that keeping company with me was a contagious activity ...
    Joseph D. McNamara
    ... Professor Milton Friedman has estimated that as many as 10,000 additional homicides a year are plausibly attributed to the drug war.

    Writings

    The Case for Free Trade, by Milton Friedman, Rose D. Friedman, Hoover Digest, 30 Oct 1997
    Discusses various arguments made about tariffs, protectionism and foreign exchange intervention, concluding with advocating completely free trade; adapted from "The Tyranny of Controls" in Free to Choose: A Personal Statement (1980)
    It is often said that bad economic policy reflects disagreement among the experts; that if all economists gave the same advice, economic policy would be good. Economists often do disagree, but that has not been true with respect to international trade. Ever since Adam Smith there has been virtual unanimity ... We could say to the rest of the world: We believe in freedom and intend to practice it. We cannot force you to be free. But we can offer full cooperation on equal terms to all ... Buy whatever you can and wish to. In that way cooperation among individuals can be worldwide and free.
    Related Topics: Free trade, Prices
    The Drug War as a Socialist Enterprise, Friedman & Szasz on Liberty and Drugs, 16 Nov 1991
    Chapter adapted from keynote address at Fifth International Conference on Drug Policy Reform; examines why, 20 years after his admonition against the drug war, the government continues its attempts at enforcement, in spite of the predicted results
    In 1972, almost twenty years ago, President Nixon started a war on drugs—the first intensive effort to enforce the prohibition of drugs since the original Harrison Act. In preparation for this talk today, I re-read the column that I published in Newsweek criticizing his action ... I believe that our chances of success are greater if we recognize that the failure of the war on drugs is part of a much broader problem, that the reason to end the war on drugs is also the reason to end the socialization of medicine, the socialization of schools, and so on down the list.
    An Open Letter to Bill Bennett, The Wall Street Journal, 7 Sep 1989
    Addressed to then Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and appealing to him and President George H. W. Bush to discontinue their efforts to fight drug consumption
    In Oliver Cromwell's eloquent words, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken" about the course you and President Bush urge us to adopt to fight drugs. The path you propose of more police, more jails, use of the military in foreign countries, harsh penalties for drug users ... This plea comes from the bottom of my heart ... A country in which shooting down unidentified planes "on suspicion" can be seriously considered as a drug-war tactic is not the kind of United States that either you or I want to hand on to future generations.
    Related Topics: War on Drugs, Moral Repression

    Interviews

    Best of Both Worlds: An Interview with Milton Friedman, by Milton Friedman, Brian Doherty, Reason, Jun 1995
    Topics discussed include: the new Congress, flat taxes, the withholding tax, the people who influenced him, what led him to write about policy issues, libertarianism and how his political views have changed over the years
    Milton Friedman needs little introduction. His car-eer as one of the world's preeminent economists and advocates of freedom has won him many accolades, best-selling books, and a Nobel Prize. It has also brought him much satisfaction ... Friedman is used to discussing policy, but except for his assessment of the new Congress's potential, we wandered far afield into reminiscence; assessment of his intellectual development; and his thoughts on the history, significance, and successes of the intellectual movement for freedom that he has served so staunchly.

    Interviews

    Interview with Gary Becker, by Gary Becker, Douglas Clement, The Region, Jun 2002
    Topics discussed include the economics of crime, economics and law, banking discrimination, economic education, social security, behavioral economics, sociology, career choices and moral hazards
    REGION: ... [W]hat factors were most important to your choice of economics as a profession?
    BECKER: ... I decided to go to graduate school, came to Chicago, and by far the biggest influence on me was Milton Friedman. He is known as a monetary economist and so on, but that was not the main influence he had on me. Milton Friedman was, and is—he is still going strong—a great economist, who saw the power of economics as a tool of analysis to discuss real problems. I saw then that my discouragement when a senior at Princeton was misplaced.
    Rockwell on Libertarianism, by Lew Rockwell, Jedrzej Kuskowski, 20 Apr 2007
    Interview for the Polish libertarian website Liberalis; topics discussed include libertarianism, the Internet, movement leaders, the State, Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party, left-libertarians, Milton Friedman, immigration and Poland
    KUSKOWSKI: The recent passing away of Milton Friedman presents an opportunity to assess his contribution to the cause of liberty. What is your opinion of him? ...
    ROCKWELL: He obviously did great work on many economic questions. But it is a mistake to see him as a libertarian. He was a wage and price controller in wartime. He was an advocate of the withholding tax and the guaranteed national income. His idea of tax-funded subsidies for private schools is a very bad one ... He was pro-war. I could go on, but it's probably best to focus on his contributions, of which there are many.
    Related Topics: Libertarianism, Poland, The State

    Books

    The Essence of Friedman
        by Kurt R. Leube (editor), 1987
    A collections of essays from different books by Friedman, foreword by W. Glenn Campbell (director, Hoover Institution); introduction by Anna J. Schwartz

    Books Authored

    Capitalism and Freedom, 1962
    Partial contents: The Relation Between Economic Freedom and Political Freedom - The Role of Government in a Free Society - The Control of Money - International Financial and Trade Arrangements - Fiscal Policy - The Role of Government in Education
    Related Topic: Capitalism
    • ISBN 0226264203: Hardcover, University Of Chicago Press, 40th anniv edition, 2002
    • ISBN 0226264017: Paperback, University Of Chicago Press, 2nd edition, 1982
    • ISBN 0226264211: Paperback, University Of Chicago Press, 40th anniv edition, 2002
    Free to Choose: A Personal Statement
        by Milton Friedman, Rose D. Friedman (Contributor), 1979
    Contents: The Power of the Market - The Tyranny of Controls - The Anatomy of Crisis - Cradle to Grave - Created Equal - What's Wrong with Our Schools? - Who Protects the Consumer? - Who Protects the Worker? - Cure for Inflation - The Tide is Turning
    Related Topic: Individual Liberty
    Friedman and Szasz on Liberty and Drugs: Essays on the Free Market and Prohibition
        by Milton Friedman, Thomas Szasz, 1992
    Includes excerpts from Free to Choose: A Personal Statement and The Tyranny of the Status Quo by Milton Friedman and Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution of Drugs, Addicts, and Pushers by Thomas Szasz
    Related Topic: War on Drugs
    I, Pencil: My Family Tree as told to Leonard E. Read, by Donald J. Boudreaux (afterword), Milton Friedman (introduction), Leonard Read, Foundation for Economic Education (publisher), 1999
    Read's most famous essay, in pamphlet form; electronic version at the Library of Economics and Liberty
    A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, 1963
    Partial contents: The Greenback Period - Silver Politics and the Secular Decline in Prices, 1879-97 - Gold Inflation and Banking Reform, 1897-1914 - Early Years of the Federal Reserve System, 1914-21 - The High Tide of the Reserve System, 1921-29

    Videos


    Leonard Liggio on the Rise of the Modern American Libertarian Movement, by Jacob G. Hornberger, Leonard Liggio, 9 Mar 1995
    Talk given at Vienna Coffee Club (Future of Freedom Foundation). Liggio starts off with the New Deal and covers many events and individuals both at the core and the periphery of the modern libertarian movement
    Schools of Thought in Classical Liberalism, Part 2: Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, by Nigel Ashford, 9 May 2012
    Short video, with transcript; discusses the answers to the question "What is the proper role of government?" from the viewpoint of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of economics
    Milton Friedman [is], of course, the famous former president of the American Economic Association, Nobel Prize winner, wrote best-selling books, Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose, the latter of which was turned into a popular television series ... Friedman is very clear, these are the four areas that government should be active in or necessary to carry out ... Friedman believes that ... governments have these responsibilities, but as far as possible, they should use market mechanisms to achieve these ends.

    Videos


    The Economy's New Clothes: Milton Friedman on the New Economy, Uncommon Knowledge, 10 Mar 2000
    Friedman discusses with Peter Robinson about the so-called "New Economy" of the late 1990's, comparing it to the economy of the Roaring Twenties that preceded the Great Depression
    Free to Choose: The Updated and Revised Television Series, 1990
    Recordings of television programs, originally broadcast in 1980 on PBS; participants included David Brooks, James Galbraith, Gary Becker, Thomas Sowell, Michael Kinsley, Gordon Tullock, and Samuel Bowles; with new introductions by Ronal Reagan and others
    Related Topic: Individual Liberty

    The High and the Mighty: The War on Drugs, Uncommon Knowledge, 2000
    A debate between Milton Friedman and Peter Wilson, former governor of California, about drug prohibition
    Related Topic: War on Drugs

    The Power of the Market, 1980
    Volume 1 of the PBS "Free to Choose" series. "Friedman explains how markets and voluntary exchange organize activity and enable people to improve their lives. He also explains the price system. Friedman visits Hong Kong, U.S. and Scotland."
    Related Topic: Free Market

    Rose and Milton Friedman on Mont Pelerin Society, by Milton Friedman, Rose D. Friedman, 15 Oct 2002
    The Friedmans are interviewed at the time of the 2002 Mont Pelerin meeting in London which they were unable to attend; Milton reminisces about the first meeting and discusses the changes in the political and economic environment since its founding
    Related Topic: Mont Pelerin Society

    Take It To The Limits: Milton Friedman on Libertarianism, Uncommon Knowledge, 10 Feb 1999
    Friedman discusses with Peter Robinson about what is libertarianism, which government functions are legitimate and how libertarians look at issues of public safety, protecting the environment and the right size of government itself
    Related Topic: Libertarianism

    The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Milton Friedman" as of 19 Jul 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.