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Milton Friedman

Born in New York (1912), the son of poor immigrants, Friedman spent his early career at Columbia University. In 1946 he joined the University of Chicago, taking up a position as Professor of Economics. During this period at Chicago Friedman wrote some of his most prolific works, surrounded by the monetarists that made up the “Chicago School”. With a mix of monetarist values and classical ideals, Friedman was to produce works which crossed the academic/public divide, making a strong case for limited government, and the perseverance and extension of individual liberties. Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1976.

Friedman is best known for his monetarist policies – insisting that inflation is highly destructive and that only monetary policy can control it – but that monetary policy is a heavyweight instrument and cannot be used for short-term economic management. But he is also distinguished for pioneering work on other subjects such as the unintended effects of professional licensing and price regulation, tax policy, and the theory of the consumption function.
Bio text originally from Adamsmith.org

Learn More

Full Bio: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Friedman.html
Monetarism: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Monetarism.html
Milton Friedman on Greed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
Milton Friedman on the Minimum Wage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca8Z__o52sk