Milton Friedman

One of The New York Times's 33 Nonfiction Books to Read This Fall | Named a most anticipated fall book by the Chicago TribuneThe first full biography of America's most renowned economist.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, the 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 the economist Anna Schwartz, as well as his complex relationships with powerful figures such as Fed Chair Arthur Burns and Treasury Secretary George Shultz, and his direct interventions in policymaking at the highest levels. 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.

Auteur

Jennifer Burns

Texte du rabat

**The first full biography of America's most renowned economist.

**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, the 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 the economist Anna Schwartz, as well as his complex relationships with powerful figures such as Fed Chair Arthur Burns and Treasury Secretary George Shultz, and his direct interventions in policymaking at the highest levels. 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.

Résumé

"Burns shows that the ideas of Milton Friedman are still shaping our world. Wherever you sit on the political spectrum, there's a lot to learn from this book. More than a biography of one controversial person, it's an intellectual history of twentieth century economic thought." -Greg Rosalesky, Planet Money (NPR)

"[Burns makes] the case in her intriguing biography Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative that Friedman's legacy cannot be shaken so easily . . . Friedman's thought, she argues, is more complex and subtle than has been understood: He raised pressing questions about the market, individualism, and the role of the state that will be with us for as long as capitalism endures. Burns's effort to recast the brash economist as a nuanced analyst usefully situates him in his 20th-century context." -Kim Phillips-Fein, The Atlantic

"Burns had full access to Friedman's papers stored at Stanford's Hoover Institution; she has interviewed many of Friedman's friends, colleagues and competitors; and she is plainly an authority on the at times highly abstruse subjects of economic theory and monetary policy. [Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative] is a tremendous scholarly accomplishment." -Barton Swaim, The Wall Street Journal

"Burns adds color and light in this first critical biography of the man to be grounded in the archives, including personal papers. As Burns's fluid prose makes clear, Friedman's contributions to economics were fundamental . . . Burns's book is not just a definitive biography of an influential economist but also an account of the development of economics as a discipline and a tool of public policy over the twentieth century." -Barry Eichengreen, Foreign Affairs

"Burns's book functions as an intellectual guide to the entire 20th century, benefiting from nearly a decade of archival research." -The Economist

"Illuminating . . . Capacious . . . A triumph of the biographical art . . . [Burns] deliver[s] a comprehensive portrait of Friedman, his times, and his legacy." -Steven F. Hayward, Claremont Review of Books

"Burns has a rare ability to wield economic terms and concepts clearly and precisely, without either dumbing them down or resorting to phony erudition. Rather than simply tell us that Friedman was marked by an early reading of Alfred Marshall, she will tell us what is in Alfred Marshall and where it shows up in Friedman's work. In explaining how Friedman's ideas of the Fed's role differed from those of his rivals, she explains what "open market operations" are, what a "primary dealer" is, what the "federal funds rate" is, and so on. The arguments are both sophisticated and easy to follow." -Christopher Caldwell, First Things

"[Burns] presents not only a well-researched and nuanced biographical sketch of Milton Friedman, but also, in tracing his influence, a riveting tour de force of economic history across the twentieth century." -Robert Steven Mack, The New Criterion

"Enriched by access to Friedman's papers [. . .], Burns pulls together in satisfying fashion details of Friedman's life that formerly lay scattered. She also provides the academic background with a compelling portrait of Friedman's first revolution [at] the University of Chicago. Her analysis of how Friedman and his allies made price theory king at Chicago is not to be missed. Nor are the stories." -Amity Shlaes, National Review

"A most delightful and informative biography . . . If one has a yen for matters political economic, [this book is] beautifully researched candy." -Brian Domitrovic, Forbes

"A testament to the power of ideas... Friedman's life never drags. Although large sections of the book deal with abstract economic theory and complicated technical matters that were the subject of immense debate between Friedman and various academic and professional economists, Burns manages to make them compelling to a lay reader because she puts them in human terms." -Max Blaisdell, Chicago Reader

"Jennifer Burns manages in her new biography the near-impossible feat of doing justice to Friedman, both as an economist and more widely as - to quote the book's title in a nod to how US conservatism has been degraded in the era of Trump - "the last conservative"... Burns is superb at explaining complicated economic ideas... Burns has written a wonderful biography, but it is more than that. It is an intellectual history of the US in the last 70…