Because, as Milton Friedman (1912-2006) wrote in an 1928 essay, “Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change. When the crisis occurs the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.” (emphasis added)
The New York Times was already re-evaluating Friedman’s legacy in April, 2008 with a short article titled “A Fresh Look at the Apostle of Free Markets“.
The chief object of their scorn was John Maynard Keynes, and his message that government had to juice the economy with spending during times of duress. That notion dominated policy in the years after the Depression. Mr. Friedman would spend much of his career assailing it: He argued that government should simply manage the supply of money — to keep it growing with the economy — then step aside and let the market do its magic.
So firm was his regard for market forces, so deep his disdain for government, that Mr. Friedman once said: “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.”
Friedman, in a 1976 essay, claimed “the Great Depression was produced by government mismanagement.”
See also:
My previous post “Blogger Changes A Country” from June 2008.
Wikipedia entry for Milton Friedman.
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