Milton Friedman dies at the age of 94

Milton Friedman, who died today at the age of 94, was a titan among American economists. His theories, premised on less government interference, low taxes, and the promotion of economic freedoms, won him the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. His permanent-income hypothesis is one of his most acclaimed applications. 

Last year, when FP and Britain’s Prospect magazine named the world’s top 100 public intellectuals, we asked readers to vote on their favorites. Milton Friedman was the top write-in. Here’s what we wrote then:

Milton Friedman
(Top write-in vote)

The New Jersey-raised son of Hungarian immigrants is most famous for championing individual freedom and for arguing that taxes should be cut “whenever it’s possible.” His theory of monetarism, which emphasizes the importance of control of the money supply, replaced Keynesianism for a time as the dominant strand in economic theory. Friedman’s work at the University of Chicago propelled his ideas into the political mainstream, and in 1976, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.
Although political conservatives have embraced Friedman’s economic policies, Friedman has fewer political takers when it comes to his belief that marijuana should be legalized. Friedman once remarked, “I am a libertarian with a small l and a Republican with a capital R. And I am a Republican with a capital R on grounds of expediency, not on principle.”