President Bush spoke about the life and career of Milton Friedman at a ceremony honoring him for his work and impact in the field of economics. Friedman was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1976

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Milton Friedman – Biography

From Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation Web Site

Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economic Science, was a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, from 1977 to 2006. He was also Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946 to 1976, and was a member of the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981.

Professor Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year. He is widely regarded as the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics, which stresses the importance of the quantity of money as an instrument of government policy and as a determinant of business cycles and inflation.

In addition to his scientific work, Professor Friedman had also written extensively on public policy, always with primary emphasis on the preservation and extension of individual freedom. His most important books in this field are (with Rose D. Friedman) Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 1962); Bright Promises, Dismal Performance (Thomas Horton and Daughters, 1983), which consists mostly of reprints of tri-weekly columns that he wrote for Newsweek from 1966 to 1983; and (with Rose Friedman) Free to Choose (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980), which complements a ten-part TV series of the same name, shown over PBS in early 1980, and (with Rose D. Friedman) Tyranny of the Status Quo (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984), which complements a three-part TV series of the same name, shown over PBS in early 1984.

He was a member of the President’s Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force (1969-70) and of the President’s Commission on White House Fellows (1971-73). He was a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, a group of experts outside the government, named in early 1981 by President Reagan.

He had also been active in public affairs, serving as an informal economic adviser to Senator Goldwater in his unsuccessful campaign for the presidency in 1964, to Richard Nixon in his successful campaign in 1968, to President Nixon subsequently, and to Ronald Reagan in his 1980 campaign.

Cato President Ed Crane and Milton Friedman at the
2004 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty

He had published many books and articles, most notably A Theory of the Consumption Function (University of Chicago Press, 1957), The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays (Aldine, 1969), and (with A. J. Schwartz) A Monetary History of the United States (Princeton University Press, 1963), Monetary Statistics of the United States (Columbia University Press, 1970), and Monetary Trends in the United States and the United Kingdom (University of Chicago Press, 1982).

Professor Friedman was a past president of the American Economic Association, the Western Economic Association, and the Mont Pelerin Society, and is a member of the American Philosophical Society and of the National Academy of Sciences.

He also had been awarded honorary degrees by universities in the United States, Japan, Israel, and Guatemala, as well as the Grand Cordon of the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in 1986.

Friedman received a B.A. in 1932 from Rutgers University, an M.A. in 1933 from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in 1946 from Columbia University.

He and his wife established the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, for the purpose of promoting parental choice of the schools their children attend. The Foundation is based in Indianapolis and its president and chief operating officer is Gordon St Angelo.

He and his wife published their memoirs: Milton and Rose D. Friedman, Two Lucky People: Memoirs (University of Chicago Press, 1998).

On November 16, 2006, Dr. Friedman passed away at the age of 94 in San Francisco.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Academic Degrees

• B.A., Rutgers University, 1932
• M.A., University of Chicago, 1933
• Ph.D., Columbia University, 1946

Honorary Degrees

• LL.D., St. Paul’s University (Tokyo, Japan), 1963
• LL.D., Kalamazoo College, 1968
• LL.D., Rutgers University, 1968L.H.D., Rockford College, 1969
• LL.D., Lehigh University, 1969
• D.Sc., University of Rochester, 1971
• Litt.D., Bethany College, 1971
• LL.D., Loyola University (Chicago), 1971
• L.H.D., Roosevelt University, 1975
• LL.D., University of New Hampshire, 1975
• (Hon.) Ph.D., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1977
• D.C.S., Francisco Marroquín University (Guatemala), 1978
• LL.D., Harvard University, 1979
• LL.D., Brigham Young University, 1980
• LL.D., Dartmouth College, 1980
• L.H.D., Hebrew Union College (Los Angeles), 1981
• LL.D., Gonzaga University, 1981
• L.H.D., Jacksonville University, 1993
• H.C.D., Economics University of Prague, 1997

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

Academic Appointments

• Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Chicago.
• Part-time Lecturer, Columbia University, 1937-40
• Visiting Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin, 1940-41
• Associate Professor of Economics and Business Administration,
• University of Minnesota, 1945- 46
• University of Chicago: Associate Professor of Economics, 1946-48;
• Professor of Economics, 1948-63;
• Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, 1963-82
• Visiting Fulbright Lecturer, Cambridge University, 1953-54
• Wesley Clair Mitchell Visiting Research Professor, Columbia University, 1964-65
• Visiting Professor, U.C.L.A., Winter Quarter, 1967
• Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii, Winter Quarter, 1972

Research Positions

• Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution (Stanford University); 1977-2006
• Research Assistant, Social Science Research Committee, University of Chicago, 1934-35
• Associate Economist, National Resources Committee, Washington, D.C., 1935-37
• Member of Research Staff, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1937-45 (on leave 1940-45), 1948-81
• Principal Economist, Division of Tax Research, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1941-43
• Associate Director, Statistical Research Group, Division of War
• Research, Columbia University, 1943-45
• Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, January-March 1977

Other Positions

• Consultant, Economic Co-operation Administration (Paris), Fall 1950
• Consultant, International Co-operation Administration (India), Fall 1955
• Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford, California), 1957-58
• Ford Faculty Research Fellow (from the University of Chicago), 1962-63
• Columnist and Contributing Editor, Newsweek, September 1966-June 1984

Professional Societies

• Member, American Economic Association (Board of Editors, American
• Economic Review, 1951- 53; Executive Committee, 1955-57; President, 1967)
• Member, Mont Pelerin Society (American Secretary, 1957-62; Member of Council, 1962-65; Vice President, 1967-70; President, 1970-72; Vice President, 1972-80)
• Member, The Philadelphia Society (Board of Trustees, 1965-67, 1970-72, 1976-78)
• Member, Royal Economic Society
• Member, Western Economic Association (Vice President, 1982-83; President-elect, 1983-84; President, 1984-85)

Elected Societies

• Fellow, American Statistical Association
• Fellow, Econometric Society (Board of Editors, Econometrica, 1957-69)
• Fellow, Institute of Mathematical Statistics
• Member, American Philosophical Society, 1957-
• Associate Member, Belgian Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts, 1971-
• Member, National Academy of Sciences, 1973-
• Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy), 1978-
• Fellow, Jewish Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1986-
• Fellow, National Association of Business Economists, 1989-
• Active Member, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea (European Academy of Sciences and Arts), 1992-

Other Activities

• Council of Academic Advisers, American Enterprise Institute, 1956-79
• Member, Board of Directors, Aldine Publishing Company, 1961-76
• Policy-holder Elected Trustee, CREF, 1964-68
• Advisory Board, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 1968-94
• Member, The President’s Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force, 1969-70
• Member, The President’s Commission on White House Fellows, 1971-73
• Member, Advisory Committee on Monetary Statistics, Federal Reserve System 1974
• Member, The President’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, 1981-88
• Honorary Adviser, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies of the Bank of Japan, October 1982-86
• Presenter of a ten-part TV series on PBS called “Free to Choose,” January-March 1980. The same series in shortened form (six parts) was also aired on BBC in England, February-March 1980. “Free to Choose” was also shown in other countries, including Australia, Holland, Japan, and Singapore. An updated tenth anniversary edition of “Free to Choose,” consisting of five parts, was aired on CNBC early in 1991.
• Presenter of three one-half hour TV programs called “Tyranny of the Status Quo” on PBS in March and April 1984
• Founding Member, National Coalition for Drug Policy Change, 1993
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, 1996-2006. (The mission of the foundation is to promote public understanding of the need for major reform in K-12 education and the role that competition through educational choice can play in achieving that reform.

Awards and Honors

• John Bates Clark medallist (American Economic Association), 1951
• Chicagoan of the Year (Chicago Press Club), 1972
• Educator of the Year (Chicago Jewish United Fund), 1973
• Nobel Prize for Economic Science, 1976
• Scopus Award (American Friends of The Hebrew University), 1977
• Private Enterprise Exemplar Medal (Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge), 1978
• Valley Forge Honor Certificate for speech on “The Future of Capitalism” (Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge), 1978
• George Washington Honor Medal (Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge), 1978 and 1980
• Gold Medal (National Institute of Social Sciences, New York), 1978
  Statesman of the Year Award (Sales & Marketing Executives International), 1981
• Ohio State Award for “Free to Choose” TV Series, 1981
• New Perspectives Award for “Free to Choose” TV Series (Touche Ross & Co.), 1981
• One of the 1980 Tuck Media Awards for Economic Understanding, for “Free to Choose” TV Series (Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College), awarded in 1981
• Grand Cordon of the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japanese Government), 1986
• National Medal of Science, 1988
• Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1988
• Institution of World Capitalism Prize (Jacksonville University), 1993
• Goldwater Award (Goldwater Institute), 1997
• Robert Maynard Hutchins History Maker Award for Distinction in Education (Chicago Historical Society), 1997
• Source Award for Lifetime Achievement (The Primary Source, Tufts University), 1997
• Templeton Honor Rolls Lifetime Achievement Award, 1997

Milton Friedman videos and transcripts Part 3

Milton Friedman videos and transcripts Part 2

Milton Friedman videos and transcripts Part 1

John Hawkins interview with Milton Friedman (Part 1)

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Milton Friedman Friday:(“Free to Choose” episode 4 – From Cradle to Grave, Part 6 of 7)

Milton Friedman discusses Reagan and Reagan discusses Friedman

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme (Part 10)

Free to Choose by Milton Friedman: Episode “What is wrong with our schools?” (Part 4 of transcript and video)

Tax increases are not the way to go

Free to Choose by Milton Friedman: Episode “What is wrong with our schools?” (Part 3 of transcript and video)

Free to Choose by Milton Friedman: Episode “What is wrong with our schools?” (Part 2 of transcript and video)

Milton Friedman Friday:(“Free to Choose” episode 4 – From Cradle to Grave, Part 5 of 7)

Tribute to Milton Friedman

English Pages, 8. 9. 2008

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

(1) It is a great honor for me to be asked to say a few words to this distinguished and very knowledgeable audience about one of our greatest heroes, about one of the past Mont Pelerin Society presidents, about a friend of many of us, Milton Friedman. This is the first MPS General Meeting after his passing away in December 2006 and it is our duty to remember him here today and to say very clearly, loudly and explicitly how much we all owe him.

I am not sure I deserve to be privileged to speak on this very special occasion. Even though I met Milton many times in many places of the world in the past 19 years, I was not his long time colleague, collaborator or a close personal friend. I was probably chosen to speak here on behalf of his admirers and pupils. I am proud to declare that I am one of them.

My first opportunity to see him and exchange a few words with him was during the Munich meeting of our Society in 1990. For most of my life, which was spent in the communist era, I was just able to read about him and – what was much more important – to read him. Very early, he became one of my most important teachers – of course, at a distance. I considered and I do consider him, and I suppose most of you share my view, to be one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.

As I said, I succeeded in meeting him personally for the first time after the collapse of communism, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, after those historic events he – directly or indirectly – but very substantially influenced. For us, who lived in the communist world, Milton was the greatest champion of freedom, of limited and unobtrusive government and of free markets. (2)

He was for many reasons important for the people in the West, North and South, but he was crucial for us in the East. We studied him very carefully. It was, of course, difficult to get his „Capitalism and Freedom“. It was not easy to see his Newsweek columns, but it was possible to get The Journal of Political Economy, The American Economic Review or the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking in the public library even in the darkest communist days. Some of us read such journals and some of us even understood that his contributions were more important than the writings of most of other economists. (3)

He was – without a doubt – one of the most influential academic economists of the second half of the 20th century. We certainly do not plan to analyze his achievements in economic theory here today but we should at least mention his theoretical works in the fields of the theory of money, of the theory of the consumption function, his arguments for flexible exchange rates and for free trade, his ideas on the methodology of science and his views on economic, especially monetary policy. His more general texts about freedom, about the relationship between the individual and the state, about markets and planning, about alternative economic systems were not less fundamental. The books „Capitalism and Freedom“ and „Free to Choose“ influenced millions of people all over the world.

We all admired him for the clarity of his thinking as well as for his intellectual stubbornness and – at the same time – for his personal kindness and charm. Nothing captures or summarizes his life better than the title of the book he wrote together with Rose: „Two Lucky People“. From what I know, I can confirm that they were lucky, that they were lucky together and I would add that we were lucky to have had Milton Friedman. Some of us were even privileged to know him personally, to play tennis with him or skiing together in Whistler mountains. We are really missing him. We all owe a lasting debt to him.

Václav Klaus, Tokyo, 8. September 2008

THE OPEN MIND
Host: Richard D. Heffner
Guest: Milton Friedman
Title: A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy VTR: 5/31/77
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Below is a transcipt from a portion of an interview that Milton Friedman gave on 5-31-77:

Friedman: And insofar as I can give any assistance, I am delighted to, both because of my general desire to see freedom prosper, and also because I have a very strong personal sympathy and interest in Israel. I am Jewish by origin and culture. I share their values and their belief. I share the admiration which many have had for the miracles that have occurred in Israel. So if I can make any contribution to a more effective policy for preserving Israel, Israel’s freedom and strength, I would certainly be delighted to do so.

HEFFNER: Let’s turn now, in the moments we have remaining, from Israel to our own home. You had a plus and a minus evaluation of these past two years before. In terms of the president’s attitudes as well as actions, how do you, given your approach to the needs of this country, evaluate President Carter?

FRIEDMAN: Well, I have always argued that you will not solve problems by electing the right man to the White House.

HEFFNER: Certainly not by electing the wrong man.

FRIEDMAN: Yes. The only way you will ever solve problems, in my opinion, in moving the direction we want to move, is by making it a political interest of the wrong people to do the right thing.

HEFFNER: Go ahead. Spin that one out, Professor Friedman.

FRIEDMAN: I’m not knocking it. I do not want a dictator. You do not want a dictator. We want a man as president who is responsive to the will of the people. Now, we also want a man who will exercise leadership. We also want a man who will distinguish between a momentary whim of the people and some longer-run will. And we want a man who will stand up for what he believes, but not too far. Not beyond the point where he destroys his country in the process.

Now, as I look at President Carter, I think his political interests have, to a large extent, coincided with many of his personal values. He is a small, has been a small businessman. He comes from the South, he is fiscally prudent. His desire, I’m sure, to move toward a balanced budget is serious, is sincere and honest. And it has been politically prudent to do so, because we have been in the course of a very good expansion. The economy is growing. The real threat is a rise in inflation, not a recession at the moment. It’s in his political interest to try to keep this expansion going as long as he can. So fiscal conservatism in that sense has been both consistent with his principles and politically profitable. However, he wants fiscal conservatism for a different reason than I do. I want fiscal conservatism to reduce the scope of government. He wants it to enable government to exercise greater power in achieving what he considers desirable objectives. He is not a “conservative” in any way whatsoever, so far as I can see, in the sense of being in favor of a small government. He has come out openly in favor of vast expansions in government power. He has come out in favor of a national health insurance program which would, in my opinion, be a medical as well as a social and financial disaster in the United States. His energy program, as I mentioned earlier, is not a program which is designed to give the market greater play; it’s a program for running things through government. He is fundamentally, as so many people have pointed out, an engineer. That’s his background, that’s his training, that’s his disposition.

HEFFNER: You’re saying he’s also a social engineer though.

FRIEDMAN: Of course. He’s an engineer. And he’s in a position…where can he engineer? On the social level. He is a social engineer. And he believes in it. I’m not questioning that. From that point of view, I believe his principles are very undesirable for what we need for the future. Now, how it will work out…
HEFFNER: Now, in terms of what you said, that may work out well.

FRIEDMAN: What?

HEFFNER: In terms of what you said a moment ago, that may work out well.

FREIDMAN: It may. That depends, exactly. That’s why I say that what matters to me is much less what his own beliefs are than what you and the others out there and what the people of this country decide they want their government to do. Let’s not kid ourselves. The government is responsive to the public. This is a democracy. If we have been moving in the direction of collectivism, if we have been destroying the springs of private initiative and private freedom, if we have been restricting ourselves in many areas as we have, it is because the public at large has sent instructions to Washington to do that. Take a simple case. We all bemoan inflation. Inflation is terrible, it’s awful. Nobody likes inflation. Why do we have inflation? Because we the citizens have demanded it. We have sent a message to Washington. We said, “We want you to spend more on roads, we want you to spend more on health, we want you to spend more on education. But don’t tax us for it. We don’t like those damn taxes.” What happens? Congress listens. It votes more expenditures. It doesn’t vote taxes enough to cover them. But after all, the difference has to be paid for somehow. And so the difference is paid for by the hidden tax of inflation, which is the only tax that can be imposed on the American people without anybody having to vote for it. And so that inflation, we’re responsible for the inflation. Other people have been the intermediaries, but we’re ultimately responsible. Well, in the way, whether Mr. Carter’s propensities are a force for good or ill will depend in a very large measure, almost entirely, on what the sentiment of the public is, what is politically feasible, what is politically profitable for him to do. And that’s where the changing attitudes and ideas of the public play such a large role.

HEFFNER: In coming full circle as we end the program, I gather you do feel that you see signs of a changing attitude on the part of the public.

FRIEDMAN: Oh, there’s no doubt about that. Changing attitude on the part of the public, there’s no doubt about their reaction to the New York case. There’s no doubt about their loss of confidence in the ability of government programs to achieve their objective. You know, if you want to get a laugh out of anybody you talk about the post office. And it’s a universally understood thing. When I say when I try to talk against the energy program is to say, “Are you really seriously suggesting that we should turn over the production and distribution of energy to the people who run the post office? That’s what Mr. Carter is proposing.” And that gets a laugh out of people. Why? Because attitudes and views are changing.

HEFFNER: I think we’ll look again maybe two years down the road as to whether they’ve changed in the direction that you want or not. Thank you so much for joining me today, Professor Milton Friedman. It was a very, very great pleasure to talk with you once again.

FRIEDMAN: I’m very glad.

HEFFNER: And thanks, too, to you in the audience. I hope that you will join me again on The Open Mind. Meanwhile, as an old friend used to say, “Good night, and good luck.”