Jul 31, 2014, 9:51am EDT
Today would have been the 102nd birthday of the late great Milton Friedman, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics and 1988 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Needless to say, we miss him and could use his talents.
Friedman is considered one of the greatest economists of the 20th century, the most influential since World War II, and few would dispute, the greatest advocate ever for private markets in relation to their role of ensuring both our cherished economic and political liberties.
Influenced by Jeremy Bentham and many others of his intellectual stripe like Friedrich A. Hayek, Friedman became a celebrity in his time for his enthusiastic and unfettered discussion of the way the world really works, once taking famed talk show host Donahue to school on the role of government in society: “Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.”
“The battle for freedom,” Friedman wrote in his 1994 re-introduction to Hayek’s seminal work, The Road to Serfdom, “must be won over and over again.” //
As Friedman explained to Donahue in 1979, government enforcing contracts and preserving the rule of law and private property rights is at the core of prosperity and liberty. “Property rights, Friedman wrote in his memoir Two Lucky People with his wife Rose, “… are the most basic of human rights and an essential foundation for other human rights."
