Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman has passed away at age 94.

One of the most influential economists of the last century, Friedman stood firm for free-market principles when they were out of fashion.

"There are faint stirrings and hopeful signs," he said [in a 1973 interview]. "Even some of the intellectuals who were most strongly drawn to the New Deal in the '30s are rethinking their positions, dabbling just a little with free-market principles. They're moving slowly and taking each step as though they were exploring a virgin continent. But it's not dangerous. Some of us have lived here quite comfortably all along."

Apparently he was something of a wit, too, such as when President Nixon - whom Friedman advised - adopted the price and wage controls advocated by the liberal economist J.K. Galbraith:

"You must be as chagrined as I am to have Nixon for your disciple," Friedman wrote.