Thursday, November 16, 2006

Milton Friedman Dead at 94

Someone who changed my life has died. That is not being overly dramatic; Milton Friedman did more to change me as a thinker than anyone else in my life. I was a languishing Republican, set in my convictions without truly seeing the world. And then I read Capitalism and Freedom. I didn’t agree with everything Friedman argued. I might not have agreed with half of it. Yet it was reading his tome that opened my eyes to way of thinking that I had previously disregarded. His systematic and unconventional approach (his ideas were considered radical at the time of publication) inspired me to examine my own beliefs and what I found was shocking. It was him, and solely him, that made me the thinker I am today. And it is him that will motivate me to continue to change, examine, and analyze. Rest in peace Mr. Friedman, I know I’m not the only one.

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