Milton Friedman
Candlefocus EditorA major component of Friedman's advocacy was his belief in free-market capitalism. This economic system, as Friedman saw it, relies on multiple participants to take risks in the economy and use their resources in the most productive manner. Under this system, the government should ideally stay out of the economic affairs of the people and allow them to work and buy in an environment of free and open competition.
Friedman was also well known for his advocacy of monetarism, a school of economic thought which refutes significant parts of Keynesian economics. In particular, Friedman argued that governments should be less concerned with changing their budgetary policies to control the economy and instead focus on controlling the money supply to maintain price stability. The undermining of Keynesian economics, which had become the dominant school of thought in the first half of the 20th century, was a notable aspect of Friedman's work, and it has helped define modern economic thought.
Friedman made many important contributions to the study of economics through the course of his academic life. He authored or co-authored over 40 books, including influential works such as Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and The Role of Government in Education (1965). He wrote articles in numerous journals and gave hundreds of lectures at universities and professional gatherings around the world. His publications and lectures popularized contemporary economic theories and practices, which continue to be taught in economics classrooms today.
In 1976, Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science for his research on consumer spending and money supply. It was a fitting honor for an economist who had so profoundly changed the course of economic thought during the 20th century. Milton Friedman's legacy lives on in the proliferation of free-market capitalism and the use of monetary policy for economic control. His conceptualization of a free-market economy, with minimal interference from the government, is still very much a part of modern economic thinking.