Milton Friedman

The Last Conservative

By: Jennifer Burns

Narrated by: Nan McNamara

Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Milton Friedman was, alongside John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of the twentieth century. His work was instrumental in the turn toward free markets that defined the 1980s, and his full-throated defenses of capitalism and freedom resonated with audiences around the world. It’s no wonder the last decades of the twentieth century have been called “the Age of Friedman”—or that analysts have sought to hold him responsible for both the rising prosperity and the social ills of recent times.

In Milton Friedman, the first full biography to employ archival sources, historian Jennifer Burns tells Friedman’s extraordinary story with the nuance it deserves. She provides lucid and lively context for his groundbreaking work on everything from why dentists earn less than doctors to the vital importance of the money supply to inflation and the limits of government planning and stimulus. She traces Friedman’s longstanding collaborations with women, including economist Anna Schwartz, as well as his complex relationships with powerful figures such as Fed Chair Arthur Burns and Treasury Secretary George Shultz. Most of all, Burns explores Friedman’s key role in creating a new economic vision and a modern American conservatism. The result is a revelatory biography of America’s first neoliberal—and perhaps its last great conservative.

©2023 Jennifer Burns (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

A timely and important book.

Although scholarly and sometimes dense, this book is extremely important for anyone interested in modern economics, as we all should be. One thing that struck me throughout is a curiosity if someone like Freidman could even find a place at a major university today. His detractors seem petty with their personal attacks, something he refrained from doing, as he was only interested in debating ideas. although no one in positions of authority ever embraced his ideas completely, they are well interwoven in the modern policies of almost every Fed Chairman and policymaker of any merit. The 21st century clearly needs another Milton Friedman, it's difficult to see one on the horizon. A fantastic book.

As a humorous aside, recently the New York Times published an article by part of the woke Mafia that controls our media warning parents what to watch out for to make sure their children weren't being radicalized. One of the items on the list was to make sure your children weren't watching videos of Milton Friedman speaking. That would be the Nobel Prize winning Economist Milton friedman. This is a great indicator of how far the termites have spread into our body politics, because no matter what you think of his ideas debating them is mandatory in the modern world.

Great biography!

Very fair and comprehensive, lots of details on other people in Friedman’s life and his work/debates, very engaging

Well Done, But Still A Little Disappointed

Perhaps I was expecting more of a traditional biography of Milton Friedman, the person. Instead, this is a somewhat dry, though well-researched and well-written, biography of Milton Friedman, the economist and monetarist, whose theories became influential in the Reagan years and beyond.
Having been raised in Chicago, and having even attended a Milton Friedman lecture, and having spent a bit of time with his son, David, I was looking forward to learning more about Milton Friedman’s life outside of his profession. While Burns packs in a lot of solid information, she focuses on his work, his accomplishments, his economic theories, and his interactions with politicians and other economists: All worthy topics but maybe less appealing by themselves to a wider audience.

Milton Friedman is the GOAT

Jennifer Burns provides a terrific book on the history of economics and how Milton Friedman helped shape it and politics. While there are many great economists, few if any had the influence on expanding liberty and free markets than Friedman. Check out the book for more.

No mention of Thomas Sowell Phd

There are many sardonic comments by Milton Friedman, in his interaction with many of his contemporaries. With the one big exception, of Dr. Sowell.
Thomas Sowell graduated from the Chicago school under Milton Freeman in 1958. At the time, he believed in socialism— to put it mildly. Dr. Sowell stated that his degree was granted when there was no type of racial preference in 1958. Milton Freeman was famous for flunking large numbers of graduate students in the economics program. I was surprised to not hear of any mention of a crossover in their conservative, economic, careers over the many decades. Dr. Sowell is still vigorous and alive at age 93. He has published over 40 books. He has been rediscovered by many black men for his pithy remarks on how to establish a successful career as a black man.

Superb account of a brilliant economist.

While not perfect, Milton Friedman was a seminal thinker in shaping national and global economic policy. The fundamentals he established endure today, while throughout his career, his beliefs and positions evolved with time.