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Dr. Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was the greatest economist of the twentieth century. Michael Hodges, author of the Grandfather Economic Report, calls Milton Friedman a national treasure. Hodges says, “How fortunate I am to have council and encouragement from this very wise and generous scholar…Dr. Friedman projects honor, excellence and commitment, and his example should encourage us all.”
Dr. Friedman has an incredible resume. He won the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economics. He won the "Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science in 1988. He was an Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1976. He was also a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Milton Friedman was also the economic advisor to Senator Barry Goldwater, President Nixon and President Regan. President Regan appointed Dr. Friedman to the Economic Policy Coordinating Committee. Additionally, President Regan appointed Dr. Friedman to the “President’s Economic Policy Advisory Board (PEPAB). In his memoirs Dr. Friedman said, “Reagan loved meeting with the PEPAB, and he was very knowledgeable about monetary policy and prepared to take the political heat for strong actions.”
Dr. Friedman was more than just an esteemed professor, or the author of economic research and numerous books. He was not satisfied with financial numbers and university papers. Dr. Friedman goes to the heart of important issues like government size, free markets and the decline in the quality of education.
Dr. Friedman had the rare talent of translating abstract economics into practical, real world ideas. His book, Capitalism and Freedom, is a classic examination of capitalism as both an economic system and as a necessary foundation for political freedom. Free To Choose (co-authored with his wife Rose Friedman) is an examination of economics and politics. It shows how our freedom has been eroded. An explosion of laws, regulations, agencies, and government spending has undermined our prosperity. The book makes an insightful and convincing argument for repealing most government interference in the economy.
Milton Friedman was a strong advocate of limited government and human freedom. It is the theme of his books, Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose. In his memoirs, Two Lucky People, Friedman said, “(Our books) underlie our opposition to rent control and general wage and price controls, our support for educational choice, limitation of government spending, privatizing social security, free trade, and the deregulation of industry and private life to the fullest extent possible.”
PBS presented Dr. Friedman’s book, Free to Choose, to millions of Americans as a 10-episode series. The 10 episodes corresponded to the 10 chapters in the book. This is Milton Friedman’s conclusion in his book, Free to Choose: “The two ideas of human freedom and economic freedom working together came to their greatest fruition in the United States…We have been forgetting the basic truth that the greatest threat to human freedom is the concentration of power, whether in the hands of government or anyone else. We have persuaded ourselves that it is safe to grant power, provided it is for good purposes…We are again recognizing the dangers of an over-governed society, coming to understand that good objectives can be perverted by bad means, that reliance on the freedom of people to control their own lives in accordance with their own values is the surest way to achieve the full potential of a great society.” Like Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson before him, Friedman believes that “government has (only) three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens against crimes against themselves or their property.”
In addition to criticizing government interference in the economy, Friedman called for an end to the War on Drugs. In the September 7, 1989 edition of The Wall Street Journal he wrote, “Every friend of freedom… must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.”
Dr. Milton Friedman was not the typical “sit-in-the-office economist. Milton Friedman’s influence on the world has been phenomenal. He helped to initiate the change to free markets, free trade and limited government. Additionally, he strived to educate the average person from all walks of life. He was an incredible model of forward-thinking intellectualism. He was truly the greatest economist of the twentieth century. He is my hero.
Works Cited
Friedman, M., & Friedman, R. D. Free to Choose. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1990.
Friedman, M., & Friedman, R. D. Two Lucky People: Memoirs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Milton Friedman was the greatest economist of the twentieth century. Michael Hodges, author of the Grandfather Economic Report, calls Milton Friedman a national treasure. Hodges says, “How fortunate I am to have council and encouragement from this very wise and generous scholar…Dr. Friedman projects honor, excellence and commitment, and his example should encourage us all.”
Dr. Friedman has an incredible resume. He won the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economics. He won the "Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science in 1988. He was an Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1976. He was also a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Milton Friedman was also the economic advisor to Senator Barry Goldwater, President Nixon and President Regan. President Regan appointed Dr. Friedman to the Economic Policy Coordinating Committee. Additionally, President Regan appointed Dr. Friedman to the “President’s Economic Policy Advisory Board (PEPAB). In his memoirs Dr. Friedman said, “Reagan loved meeting with the PEPAB, and he was very knowledgeable about monetary policy and prepared to take the political heat for strong actions.”
Dr. Friedman was more than just an esteemed professor, or the author of economic research and numerous books. He was not satisfied with financial numbers and university papers. Dr. Friedman goes to the heart of important issues like government size, free markets and the decline in the quality of education.
Dr. Friedman had the rare talent of translating abstract economics into practical, real world ideas. His book, Capitalism and Freedom, is a classic examination of capitalism as both an economic system and as a necessary foundation for political freedom. Free To Choose (co-authored with his wife Rose Friedman) is an examination of economics and politics. It shows how our freedom has been eroded. An explosion of laws, regulations, agencies, and government spending has undermined our prosperity. The book makes an insightful and convincing argument for repealing most government interference in the economy.
Milton Friedman was a strong advocate of limited government and human freedom. It is the theme of his books, Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose. In his memoirs, Two Lucky People, Friedman said, “(Our books) underlie our opposition to rent control and general wage and price controls, our support for educational choice, limitation of government spending, privatizing social security, free trade, and the deregulation of industry and private life to the fullest extent possible.”
PBS presented Dr. Friedman’s book, Free to Choose, to millions of Americans as a 10-episode series. The 10 episodes corresponded to the 10 chapters in the book. This is Milton Friedman’s conclusion in his book, Free to Choose: “The two ideas of human freedom and economic freedom working together came to their greatest fruition in the United States…We have been forgetting the basic truth that the greatest threat to human freedom is the concentration of power, whether in the hands of government or anyone else. We have persuaded ourselves that it is safe to grant power, provided it is for good purposes…We are again recognizing the dangers of an over-governed society, coming to understand that good objectives can be perverted by bad means, that reliance on the freedom of people to control their own lives in accordance with their own values is the surest way to achieve the full potential of a great society.” Like Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson before him, Friedman believes that “government has (only) three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens against crimes against themselves or their property.”
In addition to criticizing government interference in the economy, Friedman called for an end to the War on Drugs. In the September 7, 1989 edition of The Wall Street Journal he wrote, “Every friend of freedom… must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.”
Dr. Milton Friedman was not the typical “sit-in-the-office economist. Milton Friedman’s influence on the world has been phenomenal. He helped to initiate the change to free markets, free trade and limited government. Additionally, he strived to educate the average person from all walks of life. He was an incredible model of forward-thinking intellectualism. He was truly the greatest economist of the twentieth century. He is my hero.
Works Cited
Friedman, M., & Friedman, R. D. Free to Choose. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1990.
Friedman, M., & Friedman, R. D. Two Lucky People: Memoirs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.