Product Description

Upon 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 twentieth 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 the virtues of free markets and laissez-faire policies. "Milton Friedman on Economics" collects a variety of Friedman's papers on topics in economics that were originally published in the "Journal of Political Economy". Opening with Friedman's 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 Friedman's economic thought, "Milton Friedman on Economics" will be essential for anyone tracing the course of twentieth-century economics and politics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #339693 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Review
"There are very few people over the generations who have ideas that are sufficiently original to materially alter the direction of civilization. Milton Friedman is one of those very few people." - Alan Greenspan"

About the Author
Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the Paul Snowden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. In 1976 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Customer Reviews

A collection of Economics papers authored by the Old Master
This book may not feature among the "must have" shortlist of mainstream Friedmanites the world over as it is a pure discourse in empirical microeconomics in most parts, by Milton Friedman and some of his co-authors. If you are looking for the old master's famous one-liners, you may look elsewhere. This book is a comprehensive collection of his work and thoughts on the socio-economic issues of our times from a largely microeco standpoint.

However, it must be said that throughout his career Friedman impeccably switched from Micro to Macroeconomics, without drawing a very sharp distinction between the two. Some say, as only the great man could.

Bar one exception, all of Milton Friedman's papers re-published in this book, first appeared in the Journal of Political Economy. While it open's with Friedman's Nobel Lecture in 1977 on Inflation and Unemployment, the book contains his papers dating as far back as 1948. The latest entry dates back to a paper of his published in 1990, in which Freidman discusses the "Crime of 1873" (read - The U.S. Coinage Act of 1873).

Among the book's highlights is his paper titled "Interest Rates and the demand for money" (1966) which offers an insight into his thoughts in the late sixties. Another paper titled, "A statistical illusion in Judging Keynesian models" (1957) which he co-authored with Gary S. Becker is also good reference point for economics students and economists alike. Overall, I rate it as a good reference point and a one stop shop for Friedman's key work published in the Journal of Political Economy.