Happy Birthday, Milton Friedman

[Valin]

CATO Institute:

This article appeared on cato.org on July 31, 2002.
David Boaz

Milton Friedman, the greatest living economist, turns 90 on July 31. Over his long life, he has had the satisfaction of seeing the world turn in his direction.

Friedman was born in New York in 1912, at the end of a long period of peace and prosperity. The first half of his life witnessed a series of catastrophes for peace and freedom - World War I, the Bolshevik coup d'etat in Russia, the rise of fascism and national socialism, World War II, communist domination of half the world. Happily, Friedman's parents had left Eastern Europe, avoiding the cataclysms there.

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In 1980 Friedman broadened his audience further with the publication of a book, "Free to Choose," and an accompanying PBS television series. Millions of people watched "Free to Choose" and came to understand how markets work. One viewer, a young actor named Arnold Schwarzenegger, said in 1994: "In Austria I noticed that people would worry about when they would get their pension. In America, they would worry if they were going to meet their potential. Friedman's books explained to me how a dynamic capitalist system allows people to fulfill their dreams."
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