RIP, Milton Friedman

In my opinion, he was the greatest and most influential economist of the 20th century, an uncompromising individualist and free-market advocate when being those things was definitely not cool (not that they are considered totally cool today, but they are at least equal players in the arena of ideas). Millons of free people the world over owe him a debt that can’t be repaid.

Well done, sir. Rest in peace (7PM – The Financial Times has the best obit I’ve seen by far, a definite hard-drive saver.)
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UPDATE: Earlier visitors to this post may notice that I changed the “Rest in peace” link. That’s because when the original CNN story was expanded with more biographical info, it was laughably inaccurate and biased in its description and characterization of supply-side economics. In fact, though Friedman agreed with much of supply-side econ, he was not even one of its main proponents! Zheesh — The replacement link better reflects reality — for now.

UPDATE 2: Other voices –
- Michelle Malkin — “One of America’s greatest intellectual heroes of freedom.” Lots of great links.
- Instapundit — “It’s hard to say that someone has been plucked untimely at the age of 94, but it feels that way.” Darn right it does, because he never let up. When you see him in recent interviews, you’d swear he was no older than 70 or so.
- Allah at Hot Air has posted a link to a great video. I especially love how Friedman turns the interviewer around on the definitions of “conservative” and “liberal.”
- There are tons of links at the 5:10 p.m. version of Memeorandum.

UPDATE 3: OMG, this is soooo funny and what they sing about is so true — “The Milton Friedman Choir.” Boring Made Dull, call your office. The link also notes that Friedman was involved in instituting withholding taxes to raise revenues during WWII, something he claims, probably correctly, was a necessary evil at the time. But it’s also something that should have been eliminated on V-J Day, and wasn’t.

UPDATE 4: John Hawkins at Right Wing News interviewed Friedman on September 16, 2003 (how did he swing THAT?), and also has a quotes page that includes about a half-dozen from Friedman.
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Previous Posts:
- Oct. 6 — Milton Friedman on Hong Kong
- Aug. 22 — Friedman’s Timeless Essay on “Corporate Social Responsibility”
- July 14 — Friedman on “Self-Interest”

Other Resources:
- Friedman’s 1976 Nobel Prize page, with links to the press release, banquet speech, and more
- “Capitalism and Freedom” at Amazon.com
- An index of Friedman videos at Google Video (direct to vid).