Zbigniew Brzezinski
Polish-American diplomat and political scientist (1928-2017)
Milton Friedman was a renowned American economist and statistician who won the Nobel Prize in 1976 for his pioneering work on consumption analysis, monetary history, and stabilization policy. He was a key figure in the Chicago school of economics and his influential ideas on free markets, deregulation, and monetary policy shaped government policies in the 1980s.
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About the Milton Friedman
Milton Friedmanwas an American economist and statistician 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, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations. Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, and Robert Lucas Jr.
Friedman’s challenges to what he called “naive Keynesian theory” began with his interpretation of consumption, which tracks how consumers spend. He introduced a theory which would later become part of mainstream economics and he was among the first to propagate the theory of consumption smoothing. During the 1960s, he became the main advocate opposing Keynesian government policies, and described his approachas using “Keynesian language and apparatus” yet rejecting its initial conclusions. He theorized that there existed a natural rate of unemployment and argued that unemployment below this rate would cause inflation to accelerate. He argued that the Phillips curve was in the long run vertical at the “natural rate” and predicted what would come to be known as stagflation. Friedman promoted a macroeconomic viewpoint known as monetarism and argued that a steady, small expansion of the money supply was the preferred policy, as compared to rapid, and unexpected changes. His ideas concerning monetary policy, taxation, privatization, and deregulation influenced government policies, especially during the 1980s. His monetary theory influenced the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy in response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
After retiring from the University of Chicago in 1977, and becoming Emeritus professor in economics in 1983, Friedman served as an advisor to Republican U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Conservative British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. His political philosophy extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal government intervention in social matters. In his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman advocated policies such as a volunteer military, freely floating exchange rates, abolition of medical licenses, a negative income tax, school vouchers, and opposition to the war on drugs and support for drug liberalization policies. His support for school choice led him to found the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, later renamed EdChoice.
Friedman’s works cover a broad range of economic topics and public policy issues. His books and essays have had global influence, including in former communist states. A 2011 survey of economists commissioned by the EJW ranked Friedman as the second-most popular economist of the 20th century, following only John Maynard Keynes. Upon his death, The Economist described him as “the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century … possibly of all of it”.
Frequently Asked Questions
Milton Friedman was an American economist and statistician 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.
Milton Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, and he challenged the ,naive Keynesian theory, with his theories on consumption, the natural rate of unemployment, and monetarism. His ideas on monetary policy, taxation, privatization, and deregulation influenced government policies, especially during the 1980s.
Milton Friedman extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal government intervention. In his book ,Capitalism and Freedom,, he advocated for policies such as a volunteer military, freely floating exchange rates, abolition of medical licenses, a negative income tax, school vouchers, and opposition to the war on drugs.
Milton Friedman’s ideas concerning monetary policy, taxation, privatization, and deregulation influenced government policies, especially during the 1980s. He served as an advisor to Republican U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Conservative British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Milton Friedman’s works have had global influence, including in former communist states. A 2011 survey of economists ranked him as the second-most popular economist of the 20th century, following only John Maynard Keynes. Upon his death, The Economist described him as ,the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century … possibly of all of it,.
Milton Friedman’s support for school choice led him to found the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, later renamed EdChoice, to promote his ideas on educational reform and school vouchers.
Milton Friedman’s monetary theory influenced the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy in response to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, as his ideas on the role of the money supply in economic stability became more widely accepted.
37 Quotes by Milton Friedman
- 1.
The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that’s why it’s so essential to preserving individual freedom.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 2.
The most important ways in which I think the Internet will affect the big issue is that it will make it more difficult for government to collect taxes.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 3.
Well first of all, tell me, is there some society you know of that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed?
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 4.
The power to do good is also the power to do harm.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 5.
The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 6.
One man’s opportunism is another man’s statesmanship.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 7.
The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 8.
Universities exist to transmit knowledge and understanding of ideas and values to students not to provide entertainment for spectators or employment for athletes.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 9.
Columbus did not seek a new route to the Indies in response to a majority directive.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 10.
We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 11.
The greatest advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science and literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 12.
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 13.
Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 14.
The only relevant test of the validity of a hypothesis is comparison of prediction with experience.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 15.
And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think, excuse me, if you’ll pardon me, American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout?
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 16.
The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is that kind of a system.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 17.
I’m in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 18.
The black market was a way of getting around government controls. It was a way of enabling the free market to work. It was a way of opening up, enabling people.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 19.
History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 20.
Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 21.
Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 22.
The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 23.
Governments never learn. Only people learn.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 24.
Inflation is taxation without legislation.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 25.
I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 26.
A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 27.
The world runs on individuals pursuing their self interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a, from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 28.
Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 29.
Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 30.
If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 31.
Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 32.
Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 33.
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.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 34.
Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 35.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 36.
Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)
- 37.
So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear. That there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.
Milton FriedmanAmerican economist and statistician (1912-2006)