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Milton Friedman

Original nameMilton Friedman

Leader of monetarism, standard-bearer of the free market

Those Who Argued Over Markets for a Century · Critics & the Macro Debate
MonetarismFree MarketChicago SchoolInflation

Who they are

An American economist, leader of the Chicago School, and the most forceful advocate of free-market economics in the late twentieth century. He revived the emphasis on money, holding that "inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon," and argued that controlling the money supply — rather than frequent fiscal intervention — is the key to a stable economy; this "monetarism" rose to fame after the stagflation of the 1970s left Keynesianism floundering. He was also a tireless public intellectual, ardently championing market freedom and smaller government through his books and the television series Free to Choose, profoundly influencing the economic policy of the Reagan and Thatcher era. He even foresaw a kind of electronic money independent of government.

Primary sourcesFriedman, Capitalism and FreedomFree to Choose (book and television series)

Key stories

"There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch"

Friedman’s favorite line was "there is no such thing as a free lunch." His meaning: behind every seemingly free benefit, someone is always paying the bill — every generous outlay of government ultimately comes from taxpayers or from inflation. With this plain saying he repeatedly warned people against naive illusions about government intervention. With this uncompromising faith in markets and formidable powers of expression, he became one of the most influential economists after Keynes.

Relationships

Ally
🕊️Friedrich Hayek　both standard-bearers of twentieth-century free-market economics
Nemesis
🏛️John Maynard Keynes　monetarism long pitted against Keynesianism

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch""There is no such thing as a free lunch" became household common sense through Friedman; his monetarism and free-market arguments profoundly influenced the economic policy of the Reagan and Thatcher era and of countries since.

Appears in

The Great Depression & the Macro DebateHayek and Friedman: The Free Market Strikes Back
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