Scholarly Comments on Academic Economics

Why Is There No Milton Friedman Today?

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Abstract

One answer is that Milton Friedman possessed a rare combination of attributes that enabled him to communicate as easily with a mass audience as with his professional peers. He also emerged on the public stage at a time when his message of limited government had unusual resonance. Developments in the world and in the economics profession have reduced both the demand for the message and the supply of the kind of talent that allowed Friedman to become the iconic deliverer of that message. Friedman ironically bears some responsibility for both changes.