By Mark Rhoads
The late Professor Milton Friedman won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976 when he was still on the faculty of the University of Chicago. His many books and a TV series produced with his wife Dr. Rose Friedman called "Free To Choose" serve as a lasting resource for anyone who wants to understand how and why America remained prosperous for so many decades over two cenuries. After they left Chicago, Milton and Rose moved to Stanford Universiy and bought a home on Taylor Street in San Francisco. Milton died in November 2006 at the age of 94. Not a week passes that I do not miss the value of his wisdom on many topics in the world of public policy.
I regret that I had a televised difference of opinion with him the previous August but it was polite on both sides. I was praising the academic test scores and other accomplishments of students who had been schooled at home and Milton did not like the idea of home schooling at all. He said it was because his generation eighty years before in Brooklyn had benefitted from a much superior public school system to the one we have today. I consoled myself that we both could have been right, but about different times in history.
The wonderful thing about Prof. Friedman was that he differed on ideas but never disrepected anyone who had different opinions from his own. He did not call anyone stupid just because they had different ideas. He would just cheerfully walk liberals through the faulty logic of their premise. For example he might just smile and ask, "If America is such a terrible place to live, then why do so many millions of people from all over the world want to move here instead of stay where they were born? Could it be because our country offers more opportunities than they can find at anywhere else? Most listeners understood it was a fair question. For those younger readers of IR who might have only a hazy memory of who Milton Friedman was, nothing will substitute for his books. But here is a clip of one of his TV lectures that might offer you a short introduction to his logic, genial demeanor, and spirit of good will. Please CLICK HERE.
