Milton Friedman Turns 100
Today would have been economist Milton Friedman’s 100th birthday. Friedman was far from perfect, philosophically. He was, indeed, the coauthor of the infamous 1946 pamphlet “Roofs or Ceilings?”, which Ayn Rand ruthlessly dissects in The Letters of Ayn Rand. That said, I have a great deal of admiration for Friedman, above all for his intellectual style. He had an almost unmatched ability to communicate complex, controversial ideas with clarity and charm.
3 Comments to “Milton Friedman Turns 100”
I also like Friedman’s style. While his philosophy wasn’t perfect, it had changed for the better over the years. He had been on the left, but continually evolved free market ideas right up until he died, according to this article: http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2012/07/31/the_ongoing_importance_of_milton_friedman_99793.html
The original essay: http://www.fee.org/library/books/roofs-or-ceilings-the-current-housing-problem/
Today’s Barron’s has some good firedman quotes:
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903940904577565081232961826.html
Friedman knew that “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
When the Nixon administration imposed wage and price controls in 1971, Friedman said, “The controls are deeply and inherently immoral. By substituting the rule of men for the rule of law and for voluntary cooperation in the marketplace, the controls threaten the very foundations of a free society.”