Jennifer Burns’s biography of Milton Friedman, titled “The Last Conservative,” provides a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the life and ideas of one of America’s most renowned economists. Starting with a biographical context Milton Friedman, alongside John Maynard Keynes, significantly shaped economic thought in the twentieth century. His work was instrumental in championing free markets during the 1980s, resonating with audiences worldwide. The book contextualizes Friedman’s groundbreaking ideas, from the earnings disparity between dentists and doctors to the critical role of the money supply still in use today as a gauge. Burns then explores his collaborations and relationships. She sheds light on Friedman’s collaborations with influential women, including economist Anna Schwartz. She also explores his complex relationships with figures like Fed Chair Arthur Burns and Treasury Secretary George Shultz. Friedman’s direct involvement in high-level policymaking is a fascinating aspect of his legacy.
Burns details Friedman's new economic vision by emphasizing Friedman’s pivotal role in shaping a new economic vision and modern American conservatism. His full-throated defenses of capitalism and freedom left an indelible mark on economic discourse. The book further positions Friedman as America’s first neoliberal and perhaps its last great conservative. It grapples with the dual responsibility attributed to him: the rising prosperity and social ills of recent times.
Overall Burns’s writing is lucid, sympathetic, and fair, making the biography highly readable.
“Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative” offers an insightful journey through the life, ideas, and impact of this influential economist.
As I process this read I am struck by the cogent quote offered n the opening pages: "Only a crisis --actual or perceived--produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable." Clearly we are on the precipice of government failure with $35T in debt, so we Miltonians will just wait until it collapses and then reinvent the free market with libertarian principles again.
Whether you’re an economics scholar or a general reader, this biography is a must-read
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marie-claude goreux
must-read for anyone deeply interested in the history of economic thought.
Reviewed in France on January 11, 2024
