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Personal Hero Profile Series: Milton Friedman – Part 2 of 5

A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman

We continue with part 2 of our Milton Friedman Personal Hero Profile Series.  This video is a continuation of Friedman's interview on the Donahue show:

BONUS VIDEO:  In his book "Capitalism and Freedom" (1962) Milton Friedman (1912-2006) advocated minimizing the role of government in a free market as a means of creating political and social freedom.  An excerpt from an interview with Phil Donahue in 1979.

Personal Hero Profile Series: Milton Friedman – Part 1 of 5

Milton Friedman (1912 - 2006)

Milton Friedman, a man who won the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science, was a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution from 1977 until Nov. 16, 2006 when he passed away at the age of 94.  The Paul Snowden Russel Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946 to 1976, and a member of the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981.  He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science that same year.

Friedman was one of the twentieth century’s most influential champions of individual liberty and free markets. An early associate of FEE, Friedman accomplished more than any other to teach the public the merits of deregulation, privatization, low taxes, and free trade. His work influenced President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as well as eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union economic systems.

Friedman was born in 1912 to Jewish immigrants to the United States.  He later became the foremost expert on theoretical economics in the second half of the 20th century where he was credited with overturning the dominant Keynesian paradigm regarding the tradeoff between unemployment and inflation.  His contributions, although controversial, to monetary theory, policy, and history in such books as Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money (1956) and A Monetary History of the United States, (1867-1960 and co-written with Anna Schwartz, 1963) were extraordinary.

I think you can easily see now why I've chosen Friedman as one of my personal heroes.  That is why I will be posting a video, and short short description thereof, each day for the next 4 days on Milton Friedman and hopefully you will dig deeper into his life and his work just as I have.

In this first video Milton Friedman provides a direct and to-the-point defense of capitalism and free trade on the Donahue show in 1980. He explains how governmental regulations, no matter how well-intended, are inevitably infiltrated by business interests which use governmental power to stifle competition. He also explains the economics of why drug prohibition doesn't work to control drugs.  Enjoy and don't forget to come back and see the remaining four videos coming out daily!

For more information about Milton Friedman I would recommend you take a look at the following links:

• The Freeman - Milton Friedman (1912-2006)
• Wikipedia - Milton Friedman
• The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice