>>Valley Patriot>>
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Remembering
Milton Friedman
DJ Deeb
 On Thursday, November
16th, conservatives lost a true friend. Nobel
winning economist Milton Friedman passed away at the ripe
old age of 93.
Professor Friedman had a great impact on my thinking on
history, politics, and economics. He will always be
remembered for his numerous scholarly works as a
University of Chicago professor championing individual
liberty and advocating limited government through his
economic philosophy of monetarism.
Friedman is probably best known for his book, Capitalism
and Freedom, which he published during the 1960’s at
the height of the liberal and progressive wave.
Friedman challenged the prevailing economic views
articulated by John Maynard Keynes that government should
intervene in the economy to correct market failures and
engage in temporary deficit spending to create public
works jobs for individuals displaced by the private
sector.
Friedman showed how the “Great Society”
programs of President Lyndon B. Johnson coupled with the
“New Deal” socialism of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt created an unhealthy dependancy on government
and hurt the economy as a whole.
In his Free To Choose series of the 1980’s, Friedman
provided models and evidence to substantiate his argument
that unhindered free market forces created the conditions
and climate necessary for individuals to accumulate
wealth and achieve success.
Dr. Friedman argued that government should only provide
those essential services that people could not do
themselves or that the private sector could not do
better. Needless to say, Professor Friedman
advocated a very limited role for government at all
levels.
Among other things, Dr. Friedman advocated school choice,
school vouchers, a repeal of minimum wage laws, the
elimination of antitrust laws, the elimination of federal
taxes on personal income, free trade, privatization of
federal entitlement programs, a noninterventionist
foreign policy, and a decentralization of the
economy. Dr. Friedman’s principle argument was
that the unhindered free market system would create
wealth and prosperity for the greatest number of
people. Former President Ronald Reagan (“The
Great”) was greatly influenced by Dr. Friedman’s
work while in office.
Milton Friedman will forever be remembered for his
thoughtful and priceless contributions in the fields of
economics and politics. He paved the way for many
economists and political scientists in the laissez-faire
school of thought.
Thank you, Dr. Friedman, for always having the courage to
stand up for your convictions and for what you believed
was right, even when your ideas were unpopular with the
mainstream. Rest In Peace, Professor.
D.J. Deeb is an adjunct Professor of
History and Government at Bunker Hill Community College
and Northern Essex Community College. He teaches Social
Studies full-time at Reading Memorial High School.
He is an elected member of the Dracut School Committee
and Greater Lowell Regional Vocational-Technical School
Committee.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The December, 2006
Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 10,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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Beach, and Lowell.
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