Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman
 1912-2006

Famous for influencing governments, especially in the U.S. and Britain, to reduce their role, Friedman won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his ideas about monetarism and neo-conservatism.

Main Ideas

• The government should not intervene in the economy.
• There is a natural rate of unemployment.
• If governments intervene in the economy, consumers will change their behaviour.

Famous Works

• Capitalism and Freedom
• Monetary History of the United States
• Free to Choose
• Why Money Matters
• The Case for Free Trade

Famous Statements

• We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes non-work.
• If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand
• 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.

Interesting Trivia
Friedman was an excellent student and graduated from high school before he turned 16. His wife Rose was also an economist who worked with him for the remainder of his life. He believed in complete freedom, including a volunteer army, doctors who could practise without medical licences, school choice, and the legalization of drugs.