Friday, November 17, 2006

A Monetarist God

As you almost certainly know by now, Milton Friedman is dead.

The thing about Friedman was, he wasn't just an economist, he was the Economist. Friedman managed the incredible balancing trick that every academic / social scientist secretly dreams of - a formidable contribution to theory matched with an important influence over real world policy. The point about Friedman wasn't whether he was right or wrong, it was that he mattered, in a way that few of us ever will.

Meanwhile, if there is a heaven, Friedman is probably up there right now, convincing God that the best thing he can do for the rest of us is to leave us alone.

P.S. Amit Varma has a whole bunch of links to obituaries and articles about Friedman over at India Uncut. Go read.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

And when a 'monetarist' operates at micro level, he becomes Santa Claus.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15751409/


~N.