Synopses & Reviews
On his death in the autumn of 2006, Milton Friedman was lauded as “the grandmaster of free-market economic theory in the postwar era” by the
New York Times and “the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century” by the
Economist. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, Friedman was both a highly respected economist and a prominent public intellectual, the leader of a revolution in economic and political thought that argued robustly in favor of virtues of free markets and laissez-faire policies.
Milton Friedman on Economics: Selected Papers collects a variety of Friedmans papers on topics in economics that were originally published in the Journal of Political Economy. Opening with Friedmans 1977 Nobel Lecture, the volume spans nearly the whole of his career, incorporating papers from as early as 1948 and as late as 1990. An excellent introduction to Friedmans economic thought, Milton Friedman will be essential for anyone tracing the course of twentieth-century economics and politics.
About the Author
Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was an economist who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades. He was a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and is known for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the complexity of stabilization policy. He was a principal founder of what has come to be known as the Chicago School of Economics. He was a well-known public champion of laissez-faire capitalism. In 1962 the University of Chicago Press published
Capitalism and Freedom, one of the most influential books of the twentieth century. In 1998 the Press published
Two Lucky People, the memoir by Milton and Rose Friedman of their joint lives and work. In reviewing the book in the
New York Times Book Review, David Brooks wrote: “This is a book that restores your faith in reasoned discourse.… There really are people who believe in scholarly exchange as a way to discover truth.”
Gary S. Becker (1930-2014) was University Professor at the University of Chicago with a joint appointment in both the economics and sociology departments. He was the author of many books, including Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis and The Economics of Discrimination. He collaborated with Richard Posner on the Becker-Posner Blog, which formed the basis for their book Uncommon Sense: Economic Insights, from Marriage to Terrorism. Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.
Table of Contents
Nobel Lecture: Inflation and Unemployment
Milton Friedman
The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk
Milton Friedman and L. J. Savage
The Expected-Utility Hypothesis and the Measurability of Utility
Milton Friedman and L. J. Savage
A Statistical Illusion in Judging Keynesian Models
Milton Friedman and Gary S. Becker
The Demand for Money: Some Theoretical and Empirical Results
Milton Friedman
Interest Rates and the Demand for Money
Milton Friedman
Government Revenue from Inflation
Milton Friedman
The Crime of 1873
Milton Friedman
Afterword
Milton Friedman as a Microeconomist
Gary S. Becker
Index