Milton Friedman



Milton Friedman

Introduction

Milton Friedman is a well known and one of the most popular economist of the twentieth century, whose ideas, conceptions and policies have drastically altered the economic theories on a wide basis. The great economic works of Friedman have been rewarded and recognized by the whole world and many educational institutes acknowledged it and credited him for his economic theories. Also international governments have acknowledged his piece of wonders in the field of economics. The economic theories presented by Friedman have become the base for other theories in the later time period. The application of his works has significantly resulted in excessive cash inflow for the world. The main works of Freidman are visible in form of free market capitalization, competitive markets and restricted the control of government over economy (Ebenstein, L., 2007).

Discussion

Friedman was born in 1912 and passed away in 2006. He played significant role as an economist, educator, and follower of monetarism. He completed his degree program from Rutgers University and did PhD from Columbia University. He received his very first Nobel prize in 1976 for his economic based works (Ebenstein, L., 2007). His main subjects of study were income and wealth distribution, and allocation of personal finances. His rigorous working career include work with National resource Committee in the field of Consumer Budget Studies during 1935; he also worked with National Bureau of Economic Research during 1937; also the Department of Treasury Division of Tax Research in the times of world war 2. He also worked as a professor in the University of Chicago. He was the advisor to President Nixon and President Reagan regarding economic policies. He presented specific public polices regarding flexible exchange rates and prescribed a rule for monetary growth. Friedman also supported school vouchers over publically funded education. He also advocated an amendment for a balanced budget and opposed various forms of price controls including minimum wages. Friedman was also an advocate of decriminalization of drugs. When World War II began Friedman began to work for the Treasury Department. During this time he proposed an income tax withholding as a means to pay for the war. He had only intended this to be a temporary tax used only during wartime and was applauded when he realized that the government had made it a permanent tax (Caldwell, B., n.d.).

Friedman was a also in favor of monetarism. We know that the theory of monetarism is to do with change sin money supply that significantly affects the over all national output that ultimately affects the level of prices for a long term. The primary purpose of monetary policy should be to boost economic growth, restrict unemployment level, and also control inflation level in the economy (Investorwords,com, n.d.). It was firm belief of Freidman that inflation occurs mainly due to increase in money supply in the economy. He mentioned and proved as well that economy can be stabilized with respect to inflation and all other hazards only by restricting the role of government to play ...