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November 16, 2006
Milton Friedman, R.I.P.
I cannot improve on the brilliant simplicity of the lead sentence in the Wall Street Journal's article on the death earlier today of Milton Friedman:
Nobel prize winner Milton Friedman, one of the most influential economists of the last century, died today.
OpinionJournal chimes in with this fine tribute to Professor Friedman and the NY Times articles on Professor Friedman's death are here and here, the latter of which is by Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economics professor. The Cato Institute also has posted this excellent online tribute to Professor Friedman from his 90th birthday, and the Hoover Institution's news release on his death is here. The Financial Times' excellent obituary is here, and Professor Friedman's student, Thomas Sowell, has a heartfelt tribute here.
Professor Friedman's writings are one of the primary reasons that I studied economics in undergraduate school and his wisdom and wit frequently blessed this blog over the past three years. Here are a few examples of Professor Friedman's remarkable ability to communicate complex principles with engaging simplicity:
On the progress of free markets in the world after World War II:
"After World War II, opinion was socialist while practice was free market; currently, opinion is free market while practice is heavily socialist. We have largely won the battle of ideas (though no such battle is ever won permanently); we have succeeded in stalling the progress of socialism, but we have not succeeded in reversing its course. We are still far from bringing practice into conformity with opinion."
On the fundamental problem with government spending:
"There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you're doing, and you try to get the most for your money.Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I'm not so careful about the content of the present, but I'm very careful about the cost.
Then, I can spend somebody else's money on myself. And if I spend somebody else's money on myself, t M镉0rRH WyD W uW㬐W㬐W㰐W & A> & @ 8 @ : : $ D A T A .
Posted by: vnjagvet ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blog.kir.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 16, 2006 08:23 PM
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