In their articles, Mico Mrkaic of the IMF, Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution, Mitja Steinbacher of the Free Society Institute, Arnold Kling of TCS, David Boaz of the CATO Institute and myself reflect the very remarkable legacy of professor Friedman.
"We can admire Friedman, not only as a thinker but also as a human. Equipped with the iron will of the classical liberal, he knew that fighting for freedom demands an entire dedication to achieve its objective. Alone, Friedman stood against Keynesian tendencies in economic theory which dominated in the post-war time in theory as well as in economic practice. Friedman bravely knocked out unflattered Keynesian thought schemes. He showed that Keynesianism itself leads towards the loss of freedom and welfare respectively. Only the best of the best can keep up against such a numerously fanatical opposition..."
- Mico Mrkaic
"As the central figure in the "Chicago School" of economists, and an outstanding teacher, Friedman over the years sent forth into the world--overseas as well as in the U.S.--a stream of economists who influenced the thinking, and in some cases the policies, of countries all around the world. These students, along with his writings, are part of his enduring legacy. His popular writings, speeches and television appearances spread his ideas through successively wider circles of people, who passed these ideas on to others, many of whom may never had known where these ideas originated..."
-- Thomas Sowell
"The world has lost a remarkable scientist and also a great thinker. It lost a visionary who firmly stood in defence of the principles of free society and individual liberty. There's nobody who could during the period of his life contributed more to the spread of the very essential values, as Milton Friedman did..."
-- Mitja Steinbacher
"Friedman was not against trying to help poor people. However, he always insisted on trying to give the poor as many choices as possible. Hence, he preferred vouchers for health care to having government take over the health care system. Similarly, he preferred vouchers for schools to a government-run school system. However, he preferred straight cash transfers, via a negative income tax, to specific vouchers. He trusted poor people to make the best choices for themselves in allocating money among health care, schooling, and other goods..."
-- Arnold Kling
"After that the brilliant academic economist became a public figure-probably the most important advocate of individual freedom in the United States for the next 40 years. He wrote a column for Newsweek, lectured around the world, and appeared on television, always arguing for the benefits of free markets and free societies. He was enlisted as an adviser to Republican presidents and candidates, yet rejected the label "conservative," insisting that he is a liberal like Thomas Jefferson and John Stuart Mill, or a libertarian in modern terms.
His advice was also sought around the world. Most famously, in the 1970s he advised the military government of Chile - for which he received years of abusive criticism - and the communist government of China - which no one seemed to mind. Happily, both governments listened, and both have become "economic miracles." Chile now has the most successful economy in Latin America, and China's path along the "capitalist road" has made it more prosperous than anyone could have dreamed in 1976, the year that Mao Zedong died and Friedman won the Nobel Prize..."
-- David Boaz
"On this day, an excellent economist as well as a great man left us, but the influential impact of his ideas is a great challenge to apply the thought of Milton Friedman to the course of free society, a society for which professor Friedman always fought and never got despaired. Those of us who have admired professor Friedman, continually believe in his powerful ideas and inspiriation. He left us a rich legacy of economic thinking, a legacy of excellence and a legacy of perfection."
-- Rok Spruk
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