Milton Friedman, 1912-2006

I was very sad to read that Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman has died. He influenced me directly through a great book he wrote in the late 70s, Free to Choose: a Personal Statement. Reading it at age 23 began a process in me that caused me to internally challenge the orthodoxy of thought on public policy that I was exposed to as a DC area denizen and college student. I remember taking it with me to Cancun on spring break (!) and consuming it between bouts of binge drinking and talking to girls. The binge drinking is gone, as are the girls, but the lessons of the book linger with me today.

If you haven't read it, you need to. Were I in a position to do so, I'd have it taught as a textbook in public schools.