Nobel-winner Milton Friedman dead at 94

“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.”

Born in New York City on July 31, 1912, Friedman began developing his economic theories during the Great Depression when President Franklin D. Roosevelt 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.

MILTON FRIEDMAN AT A GLANCE Milton Friedman, a towering figure in the economics profession, died Thursday at age 94. Here are some key facts about the award-winning economist: — Born July 31, 1912, in New York. Friedman won a Nobel Prize for economics in 1976. He was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 1988. That year he also won the National Medal of Science. — Friedman, who taught at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1976, is considered the leader of the so-called Chicago School of economics, which is know for free-market views that stress the importance of money as a determinant of business cycles and inflation. His view that increasing the supply of money raises inflation but not economic growth over the long term is now accepted doctrine in the profession. “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon,” Friedman said. — Friedman was a prolific author on economic matters. Some of his best known works include “Capitalism and Freedom,” 1962, ”Free to Choose,” 1980 — both of which he wrote with his wife Rose Friedman — and “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960,” 1963, co-authored with Anna Schwartz. — Friedman was active in Republican policy circles. He served as an informal adviser to presidential candidates Barry Goldwater in 1964, Richard Nixon in 1968 and Ronald Reagan in 1980. After Reagan won the election, Friedman served as a member of his Economic Policy Advisory Board. — Friedman earned his bachelors degree from Rutgers University in 1932, a masters from the University of Chicago in 1933 and a doctorate from Columbia University in 1946. Source: Reuters

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 Rose 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; 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 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.

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