Milton Friedman, Leading Economist, Dies at 94

[Baley]

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist, Dies at 94

 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 16, 2006

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who advocated an unfettered free market and had the ear of three U.S. presidents, died Thursday at age 94.

 

Friedman died in San Francisco, said Robert Fanger, a spokesman for the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation in Indianapolis. He did not know the cause of death.

 

"Milton's passion for freedom and liberty has influenced more lives than he ever could possibly know," said Gordon St. Angelo, the foundation's president and CEO, said in a statement. "His writings and ideas have transformed the minds of U.S. presidents, world leaders, entrepreneurs and freshmen economic majors alike."

 

In more than a dozen books and a column in Newsweek magazine, Friedman championed individual freedom in economics and politics.

 

His theory of monetarism, adopted in part by the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations, opposed the traditional Keynesian economics that had dominated U.S. policy since the New Deal. He was a member of Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board.

 

His work in consumption analysis, monetary history and stabilization policy earned him the Nobel in economics in 1976.

 

"He has used a brilliant mind to advance a moral vision -- the vision of a society where men and women are free, free to choose, but where government is not as free to override their decisions," President Bush said in 2002. "That vision has changed America, and it is changing the world."

 

Friedman favored a policy of steady, moderate growth in the money supply, opposed wage and price controls and criticized the Federal Reserve when it tried to fine-tune the economy.

 

A believer in the principles of 18th century economist Adam Smith, he consistently argued that individual freedom should rule economic policy. Outspoken and controversial, Friedman saw his theories attacked by many traditional economists such as Harvard's John Kenneth Galbraith.

 

In an essay titled "Is Capitalism Humane?" he said that "a set of social institutions that stresses individual responsibility, that treats the individual...as responsible for and to himself, will lead to a higher and more desirable moral climate."

 

Friedman acknowledged that "pure capitalism" did not exist, but said that nations that cherished freedom must strive to keep the economy as close to the ideal as possible.

 

He said government should allow the free market to operate to solve inflation and other economic problems. But he also urged adoption of a "negative income tax" in which people who earn less than a certain amount would get money from the government.

 

He lived to see free market reforms spread in the former communist world and Latin America, but played down his own influence.

 

"I hope what I wrote contributed to that, but it was not the moving force," Friedman told The New York Sun in March 2006. "People like myself, what we did was keep these ideas open until the time came when they could be accepted."

 

Outspoken and controversial, Friedman saw his theories attacked by many traditional economists such as Harvard's John Kenneth Galbraith.

 

Born in New York City on July 31, 1912, Friedman began developing his economic theories during the Great Depression when President Franklin D. Roosevelt's based his New Deal on the ideas of Britain's John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of the time.

 

Keynes argued that the government should intervene in economic affairs to avoid depressions by increasing spending and controlling interest rates.

 

Friedman graduated from Rutgers University in 1932 and earned his master's degree the following year at the University of Chicago.

 

After working for the National Resources Commission in Washington from 1935 to 1937, Friedman was a member of the staff of the National Bureau of Economics Research in New York from 1937 to 1945 and received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1946.

 

After World War II, he taught at the University of Minnesota, then returned to the University of Chicago. He became a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in 1977.

 

Friedman married Rose Director in 1938. They had two children, Janet and David, and she was co-author of some of his books.

 

Among his most famous books were: "Price Theory," 1962 (with Rose Friedman); "Capitalism and Freedom," 1962 (with Anna J. Schwartz); "An Economist's Protest," 1972; "There Is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch," 1975; "Price Theory," 1976; and "Free to Choose," 1979, co-authored with his wife. "Free to Choose" also was a series on the Public Broadcasting Service.

 

Friedman wrote columns for Newsweek from 1966 to 1983 and was one of the few economists to bridge the gap between academia and the public. He involved himself in political campaigns, supporting Barry Goldwater in 1964 and Richard Nixon in 1968. He served on Nixon's commission for an All-Volunteer Army in 1969 and 1970.

 

In an interview with Playboy magazine in 1973, later republished in a collection of his essays titled "Bright Promises, Dismal Performance," Friedman said he was encouraged by an apparent trend away from government control.

 

"There are faint stirrings and hopeful signs," he said. "Even some of the intellectuals who were most strongly drawn to the New Deal in the '30s are rethinking their positions, dabbling just a little with free-market principles. They're moving slowly and taking each step as though they were exploring a virgin continent. But it's not dangerous. Some of us have lived here quite comfortably all along."

 

Friedman, whose wit made him a popular guest on radio and television shows, appeared to enjoy sparring with other economists.

 

In the Playboy interview, he referred to his disagreement with Galbraith, who endorsed wage and price controls. When Nixon went against Friedman's advice and reluctantly imposed the controls in an effort to slow inflation, Friedman said he wrote a note to Galbraith.

 

"You must be as chagrined as I am to have Nixon for your disciple," Friedman wrote. Galbraith didn't reply, Friedman said.

[random evil guy]

quick note, he's not a nobel prize winner as there is no nobel prize for economics...

[Krookie]

maybe he like won it for something else.

[Surreptishus]

quick note, he's not a nobel prize winner as there is no nobel prize for economics...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thats wrong.

 

http://nobelprize.org/

[Gorgon]

Keynes > Friedman

[taks]

friedman won in 1976.

 

hardly any rational economists are keynesian anymore.

 

from a greenspan speech:

 

However, cracks in the facade of government economic management appeared early in the post-World War II years, and those cracks continued to widen as time passed. At the macro level, the system of wage and price controls imposed in the 1970s to deal with the problem of inflation proved unworkable and ineffective. And at the micro level, heavy regulation of many industries was increasingly seen as impeding efficiency and competitiveness. By the early 1980s, the long-prevalent notion that the centrally planned economy of the Soviet Union was catching up with the West had begun to be discredited, though it was not fully discarded until the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 exposed the economic ruin behind the Iron Curtain.

 

taks

[Bokishi]

Crapz0r, I was just recently studying him in Business Ethics!

[Kaftan Barlast]

He lived a long life, hope he had fun. But the idea that letting the market run free is the key to prosperity and democracy is just plain nuts, its economic anarchy and it only encourages companies to become increasingly ruthless in their pursuit of profit.

 

 

quick note, he's not a nobel prize winner as there is no nobel prize for economics...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thats wrong.

 

http://nobelprize.org/

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No, it is a greyzone. The economy prize was not insitigated by Alfred Nobel but by the national bank of Sweden in 1968 under the name "Swedens national bank award in economic science to the memory of Alfred Nobel". The prize is not paid for by the Nobel Foundation but by the bank, what makes it confusing is that the award is handed out at the same ceremony as the real awards. After a while it got so mixed up that the differance is not emphasized anymore.

Edited November 17, 2006 by Kaftan Barlast

[Surreptishus]

the idea that letting the market run free is the key to prosperity and democracy is just plain nuts, its economic anarchy and it only encourages companies to become increasingly ruthless in their pursuit of profit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

^Commie.

[Enoch]

Certainly a giant in the field, and well worthy of respect, regardless of whether you agree with his outlook. In fact, he gets a bit of a bad rap because he was far more reasonable in acknowledging flaws in the unregulated free marked than many of the ideologues who cite him to support their anti-government screeds.

[Mr. Brightside]

Not long ago, I learned some of his theories in schcool, but I didn't know that he still has been alive at this time.

I am not quite sure if I should agree with his or Keane's ideas. In fact I think they both have been good...

[Walsingham]

If you think about economics in system terms I'd have thought that increasing energy demanded increasing control. While, naturally, accepting limits to that control.

[Pidesco]

Not long ago, I learned some of his theories in schcool, but I didn't know that he still has been alive at this time.

I am not quite sure if I should agree with his or Keane's ideas. In fact I think they both have been good...

 

Do you mean John Maynard Keynes? If not, who the hell are you talking about?

[random evil guy]

He lived a long life, hope he had fun. But the idea that letting the market run free is the key to prosperity and democracy is just plain nuts, its economic anarchy and it only encourages companies to become increasingly ruthless in their pursuit of profit.

 

 

quick note, he's not a nobel prize winner as there is no nobel prize for economics...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thats wrong.

 

http://nobelprize.org/

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No, it is a greyzone. The economy prize was not insitigated by Alfred Nobel but by the national bank of Sweden in 1968 under the name "Swedens national bank award in economic science to the memory of Alfred Nobel". The prize is not paid for by the Nobel Foundation but by the bank, what makes it confusing is that the award is handed out at the same ceremony as the real awards. After a while it got so mixed up that the differance is not emphasized anymore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

not only is economics in itself frowned upon by many natural scientists, but furthermore, as you mention, alfred nobel did not establish the prize for economics in his will. it was implemented much later by the bank of sweden. so, it is not a nobel prize per say.

[Walsingham]

I think that's a bit harsh. Good economics helps avoid wars.

[metadigital]

I think Nobel should have given a prize for mathematics, instead of letting his siblings play with explosives.

[kumquatq3]

My friend went on a cruise a few years back, and it was some kind of fund raiser.

 

Mr. Friedman was there and they were in the bathroom together. He friend apparently "glanced" over while standing at the urinals.

 

To this day he boasts that he saw Nobel prize winning ****.

 

wierd kid, I know

[random evil guy]

I think Nobel should have given a prize for mathematics, instead of letting his siblings play with explosives.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

well, math isn't really science either. then again, they have one in literature....

[Surreptishus]

Is Peace a science then?

[random evil guy]

Is Peace a science then?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

the peace prize is a bit different. it is awarded by the norwegian nobel committee, while all the others are awarded by swedish academies.

[kumquatq3]

Is Peace a science then?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No, but it isn't a proper noun either

[Kaftan Barlast]

The thing was that Alfred Nobel wanted to benefit those people whom he believed did the most for mankind, and also what he himself considered interesting.

 

Litterature

Physics

Chemistry

Medicin

Peacework

 

 

The Swedsh national bank award for economics didnt happen until more than 70years after the death of Alfred Nobel. It is not a price that is philantropic in any way, and thus it sort of contradicts the point. Despite being an industrialist, Alfred Nobel did not consider economics to be anything worth mention

[Mr. Brightside]

Not long ago, I learned some of his theories in schcool, but I didn't know that he still has been alive at this time.

I am not quite sure if I should agree with his or Keane's ideas. In fact I think they both have been good...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Do you mean John Maynard Keynes? If not, who the hell are you talking about?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am talking about Friedman...

[Nartwak]

Littering is a crime Barlast. No prizes are awarded.

[metadigital]

Especially a collection of rubbish letters and prose left lying around.