Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winning economist and key influence on leaders in the United States, Chile, and the United Kingdom, is dead at 94. His PBS special Free to Choose, his brief, readable Capitalism and Freedom, and his willingness to take stances on political topics--such as his opposition to the Iraq war and his support of drug legalization--made him an accessible figure to a mass audience despite the complicated nature of the ideas he advocated.
I read Capitalism and Freedom in the summer of 1996 at Camp Pendleton, California. It proved far better reading than the training manuals on Light Armored Vehicles. In 200 or so pages, Friedman makes the case for capitalism as an integral component of freedom. Friedman advanced ideas that later grew in popularity, such as school choice and monetarism, in the 1962 book.
Around the same time, I had heard Friedman on NPR. He was cantankerous and sharp. He had little patience with his interviewer, a liberal woman young enough to be his granddaughter. When the premise of a question revealed some liberal cliche the questioner had picked up along the way, a bothered Friedman would respond, "No, no, no," and proceed to lecture the young woman why she was incorrect. I sensed that at the outset of the interview the woman believed that she was dealing with a senile octogenarian. At its conclusion, she knew she was dealing with a Nobel-Prize winning economist and way over her head. Smug became meek very quickly when dealing with Milton Friedman.
They don't make 'em like Milton Friedman anymore, rest in peace. Thank God we still have him in used bookstores, and on YouTube (Check out his concluding statement, pointing out the strongest argument for free enterprise.). Enjoy!
R.I.P Milton Friedman. One of the greatest geniuses of 20th century, and a personal hero.
A great contributer to economics. Although his views on externalities were behind the times, he was a visionary when it came to the power of the market to enhance human freedom.
BTW how weird is it to see Don Rumsfield in that documentary?
wow.
Nice post. He's also one of my heroes, and his work has definitely been a huge influence in my decision to study economics.
Friedman was such a decent human being. Every little anecdote one reads about him evinces this fact. Even after he became world renown and won the biggest honors in his field, he still made time to critique the work of youngsters who asked for his opinion.
Further, he always was gracious in argument, conceding the good motives of his opponents, even while they smeared him as an apologist for wealthy plutocrats (or other such nonsense).
RIP. I hope Rose is staying strong.
God bless Milton Friedman and students of his like Thomas Sowell.
