Economist Milton Friedman Remembered [Updated]

He was President Reagan's favorite economist and served on his Economic Policy Advisory Board. He was a supporter of free markets and limited government, after rejecting Keynesian policies that he once advocated. His book Capitalism and Freedom made the case for economic freedom as a precondition for political freedom. He led the battle for an all-voluteer army, supported school vouchers to bring the benefits of competition to education, and favored a flat-rate income tax. Milton Friedman was one of the most influential economists of our times and, at his death at age 94, he deserves to be recognized for his contributions.

Following are some statements from Friedman, which help to define the man, without going into detailed economic theory.

The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing governmental power.

I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

A society that puts equality...ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.

A common objection to totalitarian societies is that they regard the end as justifying the means. Taken literally, this objection is clearly illogical. If the end does not justify the means, what does? But this easy answer does not dispose of the objection; it simply shows that the objection is not well put. To deny that the end justifies the means is indirectly to assert that the end in question is not the ultimate end, that the ultimate end is itself the use of the proper means. Desirable or not, any end that can be attained only by the use of bad means must give way to the more basic end of the use of acceptable means."

"The high rate of unemployment among teenagers, and especially black teenagers, is both a scandal and a serious source of social unrest. Yet it is largely a result of minimum wage laws. We regard the minimum wage law as one of the most, if not the most, antiblack laws on the statute books."

In a bureaucratic system, useless work drives out useful work.

Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.

One of the best accolades for Milton Friedman can be summed up simply: Liberals despised him.

I'm grateful for Milton Friedman's helping us to understand government and economics and for his contributions to President Reagan, our nation, and the world.

UPDATE:

As writers remember Milton Friedman's contributions, more sources of his positions are returning to light. The link at the bottom of this post takes you to a clip of an old PBS show called "Open Mind" from probably around 1960, in which Friedman is interviewed and gives good sense advice on limited government and freedom. It really is interesting and worthwhile, despite its length, and Friedman's views can be considered and weighed with the benefit of what we know today and what has transpired over the last four decades. Friedman discusses what makes a true conservative and a true liberal, free markets, social security, doing good with other people's money, big brother government, human nature, the great depression, our path towards a totalitarian goverment, government waste, etc.

In addition, PBS carried a series of shows in the 1980's and 1990's by Friedman titled "Free to Choose," which are linked in this sentence and from which transcripts may be found at the site.

While you are surfing the internet, let the following clip play in the background and learn from it. Do it now.