Zoo Station

I was going to read yet another post about China yesterday when news filtered in about Milton Friedman's passing. That makes it two economic giants who have died in 2006, with John Galbraith being the first. I didn't agree with a lot of what Milton Friedman said, especially when applied to the role of governments in developing countries. Nonetheless, very few people have influenced my thinking as much as Dr Friedman did, especially vis-a-vis my views on the connection between personal liberty and economic liberty (Hayek is the obvious other influence). One musn't also forget that a lot of things we take for granted today, including the importance of monetary policy, earned income-tax credit, an all-volunteer army etc were all not so obvious until Dr Friedman made it so. On the stuff that I disagreed with Dr. Friedman about, I was never entirely sure of myself because of the powerful counter-arguments I've heard him come up with.

I think Brad DeLong says it perfectly for those of us who harboured doubts about Dr Friedman's work from time to time. He starts with a brilliant quote from John Stuart Mill, which I have never heard before but promise to use a lot more.

"Lord, enlighten thou our enemies," prayed 19th century British economist and moral philosopher John Stuart Mill in his "Essay on Coleridge." "Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers. We are in danger from their folly, not from their wisdom: their weakness is what fills us with apprehension, not their strength."

Read the whole thing. In the meanwhile, there are tributes to Dr. Friedman all over the blogosphere. However, let me point to Naveen's post on the IEB which also has some India-specific links. You could also read the obits at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal (2) and the Washington Post. As I mentioned earlier, you may disagree with Dr. Friedman, but there is no way you could dispute that he was probably the most original thinker among all post-modern economists. And when the definitive history of the 20th century is written, Friedman, not Keynes, may well turn out to be the most influential of them all. Thank you, Dr Friedman, for being such a powerful influence on the lives of millions, only a very tiny fraction of whom even realize it.