Milton Friedman, R.I.P.

One of the greatest economists of the tentieth century left us today, and he will be sorely missed. Milton Friedman was a very small, slightly built man, only 5' 3" tall. But he feared no one and left his mark on the world. He was always outspoken with his ideas and was not one to mince words. Like anyone who questions the wisdom of the left, he was harshly criticized and yet that did not disturb him in the least.

His academic contributions to economics were enormous, including the permanent income hypothesis of consumption, and his advances in monetary economics. His work challenged the Keynesian orthodoxy of the day and he lead the charge of a number of free-market economists of the "fresh water" universities of Chicago, Minnesota, and Rochester, including Thomas Sargent, Robert Lucas, and others, who brought a new approach to economic research that was lacking at the "saltwater" universities of Harvard, MIT, and Berkeley.

But his most important contributions to economics were delivered to laymen. His popular books such as "Free to Choose: A Personal Statement" and the PBS series by the same name brought his theories to people who don't have PhDs.

One of my favorite quotes of Friedman comes from his introduction to Hayek's The Road to Serfdom:

Surely that is one answer to the perennial mystery of why collectivism, with its demonstrated record of producing tyranny and misery, is so widely regarded as superior to individualism, with its demonstrated record of producing freedom and plenty. The argument for collectivism is simple if false; it is an immediate emotional argument. The argument for individualism is subtle and sophisticated; it is an indirect rational argument. And the emotional faculties are more highly developed in most men than the rational, paradoxically or especially even in those who regard themselves as intellectuals.

During the period from roughly 1930 to 1980, socialist and other types of collectivist thought reigned supreme throughout the world. If it were not for a handful of brave individuals, such as Friedman, Hayek, and Rand, who stood up against the onslaught of lunacy, we would be living in a third world hellhole this very day.