Milton Friedman, 1912-2006

The Boston Globe ^ | November 18, 2006

[A. Pole]

MILTON FRIEDMAN, who died this week at 94, was an extraordinary economist, fully deserving of the Nobel Prize, but his insights into the workings of the money supply do not provide a template for public policy. Rather, they offer a lesson in the limitations of economics to advance social improvement.

[...]

Friedman believed in the power of free markets, to the point where it sometimes seemed his only use for government was to regulate the flow of money.

The consequence of Friedman's policies was to deepen social and economic inequality. Corporate CEOs could feel entitled to enormous pay packages if, in their view, the marketplace rather than a compliant board of directors, was responsible. Government was hard put to intervene on the side of those not so advantaged, because politicians who espoused the Friedman philosophy kept taxes low and skewed tax cuts in favor of the wealthy.

[...]

Friedman's thinking was a reaction to the interventionist policies of the New Deal, for which he worked in the 1930s. What's needed now is a corrective to the limited-government, free-market preoccupations of Milton Friedman, to shift more of society's resources to those who really need them.

[segis]

Another thank you for that post. Friedman was truly one of the greats.

[PGalt]

Informative, educational post. Thanks.

[JustDoItAlways]

To Lucysmom, the economic policies put in place in Chile eventually resulted in a huge boom in the economy. The problem with Left-Wingers is they do not know what the "long-run" means.

Here is Chile's real GDP growth from 1978 to 2007 forecast. Truly outstanding in fact (other than the 1982 recession which was worldwide.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chile_GDP_growth.png

[lucysmom]

Chile's economy has prospered and their privatize social security system has done well.

Reviews of the health of Chile's SS system seem to be mixed. Widespread dissatisfaction with performance of the privatized system made SS reform a major issue in Chile's recent election.

It is easy to pass off the validity of criticism by labeling the critic, but in the long run, it doesn't satisfactorily answer questions.

To Lucysmom, the economic policies put in place in Chile eventually resulted in a huge boom in the economy. The problem with Left-Wingers is they do not know what the "long-run" means.

According to the World Bank, the government provides free food at school for 62% of urban children and 94% of rural children. If the necessity of that program after 30 years of free market reforms is proof of success, I'll eat my hat.

It seems that Chile's status as a laboratory for Friedman's economic theories makes it difficult to sort through propaganda from both sides to the truth. Every writer, left or right, seems to have an ax to grind.

It is clear that Friedman's policies are effective in controlling inflation. For that we can thank him.