Milton Friedman 1912-2006

I first met Milton Friedman in the ten-part PBS series Free to Choose which my Econ 201 professor had taped a couple of years earlier. She loaned me the tapes to watch in the library at Umpqua Community College, and as I watched I gradually began to understand her enthusiasm for free markets.

Milton Friedman's patient teaching changed millions of minds in addition to mine. His ideas changed the lives of billions.

The television series aged as topical references faded. It was later repackaged in a four-part series, with an introduction by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ten years on that seems a little dated too. But the ideas behind it are as fresh as ever. Free to Choose: A Personal Statement by Milton and Rose Friedman is still in print, and still worth reading.