Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman died earlier today.
CNNmoney points out that he “helped interpret and popularize modern free-market economics that came to dominate much of U.S. public policy in the second half of the 20th century.
Free-market economic theories, which included tight fiscal discipline and deregulation of markets, grew influential in the United States after Ronald Reagan became president in the United States.
Friedman was regarded as the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics and the leading proponent of free-market theory.
Friedman’s ideas, which were embraced by President Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, were considered controversial because of the deep cuts in government spending and the restricted role the government was to play in buffering citizens from economic forces.
The changes brought about by Friedman’s economic work represented a departure from the Keyensian economic philosophy, which included generous provisions for the unemployed and wage and price controls.”
Friedman won the Nobel Prize in 1976. Cause of death: heart failure.
UPDATE
The Dutch news network NOS Journaal spends attention to Friedman’s death as well and describes him as one of the world’s most influencial economists.
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