Henderson on Burns to Milton Friedman

Fans of economist Milton Friedman—of whom I am one—should consider themselves fortunate that Stanford historian Jennifer Burns has written a detailed biography of him. Based on extensive archival research that can only be done by a patient, first-rate historian, we cover his intellectual life in its various stages from his time in high school to his death. Along the way, we see how he struggled in the 1930s and, to some extent, the 1940s to find his role in education. Burns also shows in detail the important influences in his life and, later, the many ways he has influenced it in the field of economics and the great world of policy-through taxes, monetary policy, social policy, and the framework, to name four of the policy. which is important.

His book is by no means a hagiography. At various points, he criticizes Friedman, sometimes unfairly. He’s also a bit unfair to his wife, Rose Friedman, an economist herself. But that makes Burns’s many positive assessments of Milton’s work all the more credible.

Although, as noted, he is a historian and not an economist, and sometimes not very smooth in his interpretation of the economy, his understanding of economics is remarkable, especially on one of the most difficult issues to understand: monetary policy. Indeed, he addresses the fact that the Federal Reserve does not directly control interest rates better than most economists I have read.

This is the first part of my review of Jennifer Burns’ book Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative, RegulationSummer 2024.

As I explain at the end of the review, I am not in love with the title of the book, to put it mildly. But that is not the most important part of my review. I admire many things in the book and criticize a few.

Read everything.


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