IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jmoncb/v50y2018i4p757-787.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists

Author

Listed:
  • JAMES R. LOTHIAN
  • GEORGE S. TAVLAS

Abstract

During the early‐1940s, both Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz downplayed the role of money in the economy. By the mid‐1950s, they had not only become what later were called monetarists, but the findings from their joint work defined monetarism. The key factor underlying the change in their views was what they learned from their study of U.S. historical experience, especially their empirical confirmation of the Fed's role in the Great Depression. Here, the influence of Clark Warburton on Friedman's thinking loomed large. We document Friedman's advocacy of the constant‐money‐growth rule as an outgrowth of his and Schwartz's empirical research.

Suggested Citation

  • James R. Lothian & George S. Tavlas, 2018. "How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(4), pages 757-787, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:50:y:2018:i:4:p:757-787
    DOI: 10.1111/jmcb.12481
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12481
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jmcb.12481?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George S. Tavlas, 2015. "In Old Chicago: Simons, Friedman, and the Development of Monetary‐Policy Rules," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(1), pages 99-121, February.
    2. Tavlas, George S, 1997. "Chicago, Harvard, and the Doctrinal Foundations of Monetary Economics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 153-177, February.
    3. George S. Tavlas, 1998. "Was the Monetarist Tradition Invented?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 211-222, Fall.
    4. Ross B. Emmett (ed.), 2010. "The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2591.
    5. Clark Warburton, 1949. "The Secular Trend in Monetary Velocity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 63(1), pages 68-91.
    6. Michael D. Bordo & Anna J. Schwartz, 1987. "Clark Warburton: Pioneer Monetarist," NBER Chapters, in: Money in Historical Perspective, pages 234-254, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. George S. Tavlas, 2011. "Two Who Called the Great Depression: An Initial Formulation of the Monetary‐Origins View," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2‐3), pages 565-574, March.
    8. Anna J. Schwartz, 1987. "Why Money Matters," NBER Chapters, in: Money in Historical Perspective, pages 167-182, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Edward Nelson, 2008. "Friedman and Taylor on monetary policy rules: a comparison," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 90(Mar), pages 95-116.
    10. William P. Yohe, 1982. "The Mysterious Career of Walter W. Stewart, Especially 1922–1930," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 583-607, Winter.
    11. Milton Friedman, 1951. "Commodity-Reserve Currency," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59, pages 203-203.
    12. Patinkin, Don, 1979. "Keynes and Chicago," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 213-232, October.
    13. Edward Nelson, 2009. "Milton Friedman and U.K. economic policy: 1938-1979," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 91(Sep), pages 465-506.
    14. Nelson, Edward, 2013. "Friedman's monetary economics in practice," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 59-83.
    15. Henry C. Simons, 1942. "Hansen on Fiscal Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50, pages 161-161.
    16. Nelson, Edward, 2004. "An Interview With Anna J. Schwartz," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(03), pages 395-417, June.
    17. Lothian, James R., 2009. "Milton Friedman's monetary economics and the quantity-theory tradition," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1086-1096, November.
    18. Hugh Rockoff, 2010. "On the Origins of A Monetary History," Chapters, in: Ross B. Emmett (ed.), The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Edward Nelson, 2007. "Milton Friedman and U.S. monetary history: 1961-2006," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 89(May), pages 153-182.
    20. Pelloni, Gianluigi, 1987. "A Note on Friedman and the Neo-Bayesian Approach," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 55(4), pages 407-418, December.
    21. Hammond,J. Daniel, 1996. "Theory and Measurement," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521552059.
    22. Milton Friedman & Anna J. Schwartz, 1963. "A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie63-1, March.
    23. Pelloni, Gianluigi, 1996. "De Finetti, Friedman, and the methodology of positive economics," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 33-50, November.
    24. Milton Friedman & Anna J. Schwartz, 1982. "Monetary Trends in the United States and United Kingdom: Their Relation to Income, Prices, and Interest Rates, 1867–1975," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie82-2, March.
    25. Cargill, Thomas F, 1981. "A Tribute to Clark Warburton, 1896-1979: A Note," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 13(1), pages 89-93, February.
    26. Schwartz, Anna J., 2009. "Money in Historical Perspective," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226742298, December.
    27. Milton Friedman & Anna Jacobson Schwartz, 1970. "Monetary Statistics of the United States: Estimates, Sources, Methods," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie70-1, March.
    28. David Mitch, 2016. "A Year of Transition: Faculty Recruiting at Chicago in 1946," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(6), pages 1714-1734.
    29. repec:ucp:bkecon:9780226264141 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Milton Friedman & Anna Jacobson Schwartz, 1970. "Introduction to "Monetary Statistics of the United States: Estimates, Sources, Methods"," NBER Chapters, in: Monetary Statistics of the United States: Estimates, Sources, Methods, pages 1-85, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Michael D. Bordo & Hugh Rockoff, 2013. "Not Just the Great Contraction: Friedman and Schwartz's A Monetary History of the United States 1867 to 1960," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 61-65, May.
    32. Michael D. Bordo & Anna J. Schwartz, 1987. "The Importance of Stable Money: Theory and Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: Money in Historical Perspective, pages 255-270, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1994. "Review of Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz's 'a monetary history of the United States, 1867-1960'," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 5-16, August.
    34. Nelson, Edward, 2020. "Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States, 1932–1972, Volume 1," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226683775, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:55-75 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Tavlas, George S., 2021. "A Reconsideration Of The Doctrinal Foundations Of Monetary Policy Rules: Fisher Versus Chicago," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 55-82, March.
    3. Sophia Lazaretou, 2016. "The Greek brain drain: the new pattern of Greek emigration during the recent crisis," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 31-53, July.
    4. George S. Tavlas, 2022. "Milton Friedman and the road to monetarism: a review essay," Working Papers 307, Bank of Greece.
    5. Faidon Kalfaoglou, 2016. "Bank recapitalisation: a necessary but not sufficient condition for resuming lending," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 55-75, July.
    6. Styliani Belli & Constantina Backinezos, 2016. "The transition to the new methodology for the compilation of balance of payments statistics – BPM6," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 19-29, July.
    7. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:19-29 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Nikos Vettas & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Evangelia Valavanioti & Svetoslav Danchev, 2016. "The determinants of new firms’ export performance," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 7-17, July.
    9. Sylvie Rivot, 2020. "Information and Expectations in Policy-Making: Friedman's Changing Approaches to Macroeconomic Dynamics," GREDEG Working Papers 2020-39, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    10. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:31-53 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:7-17 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. George S. Tavlas, 2020. "On the controversy over the origins of the Chicago Plan for 100 percent reserves," Working Papers 279, Bank of Greece.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. George S. Tavlas, 2015. "In Old Chicago: Simons, Friedman, and the Development of Monetary‐Policy Rules," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(1), pages 99-121, February.
    2. George S. Tavlas, 2015. "In Old Chicago: Simons, Friedman, and the Development of Monetary‐Policy Rules," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(1), pages 99-121, February.
    3. Tavlas, George S., 2021. "A Reconsideration Of The Doctrinal Foundations Of Monetary Policy Rules: Fisher Versus Chicago," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 55-82, March.
    4. Rockoff, Hugh, 2022. "Milton Friedman on bailouts," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    5. Dellas, Harris & Tavlas, George, 2019. "The Dog that Didn’t Bark: The Curious Case of Lloyd Mints, Milton Friedman and the Emergence of Monetarism," CEPR Discussion Papers 13858, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Harris Dellas & George Tavlas, 2019. "The dog that didn’t bark: the curious case of Lloyd Mints, Milton Friedman and the emergence of monetarism," Working Papers 264, Bank of Greece.
    7. Lothian, James R., 2009. "Milton Friedman's monetary economics and the quantity-theory tradition," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1086-1096, November.
    8. Hugh Rockoff, 2010. "On the Origins of A Monetary History," Chapters, in: Ross B. Emmett (ed.), The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Tavlas, George S., 2022. "“The Initiated”: Aaron Director And The Chicago Monetary Tradition," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 1-23, March.
    10. David Laidler, 2013. "Reassessing the Thesis of the Monetary History," University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute Working Papers 20135, University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute.
    11. Nelson, Edward, 2013. "Friedman's monetary economics in practice," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 59-83.
    12. Anderson, Richard G. & Duca, John V. & Fleissig, Adrian R. & Jones, Barry E., 2019. "New monetary services (Divisia) indexes for the post-war U.S," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 3-17.
    13. Stephen G. Hall & P. A. V. B. Swamy & George S. Tavlas, 2012. "Milton Friedman, the demand for money, and the ECB’s monetary policy strategy," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 94(May), pages 153-186.
    14. Sylvie Rivot, 2015. "Rule-based frameworks in historical perspective: Keynes' and Friedman's monetary policies versus contemporary policy-rules," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 601-633, August.
    15. Anderson, Richard G. & Bordo, Michael & Duca, John V., 2017. "Money and velocity during financial crises: From the great depression to the great recession," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 32-49.
    16. Kevin Hoover, 2004. "Milton Friedman?s Stance: The Methodology of Causal Realism," Working Papers 222, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    17. Benjamin M. Friedman, 1984. "Money, Credit and Interest Rates in the Business Cycle," NBER Working Papers 1482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Joseph T. Salerno, 2023. "Milton Friedman’s Views on Method and Money Reconsidered in Light of the Housing Bubble," Springer Books, in: David Howden & Philipp Bagus (ed.), The Emergence of a Tradition: Essays in Honor of Jesús Huerta de Soto, Volume I, pages 263-291, Springer.
    19. Kevin Hoover, 2004. "Milton Friedman?s Stance: The Methodology of Causal Realism," Working Papers 66, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    20. Sylvie Rivot, 2020. "Information and Expectations in Policy-Making: Friedman's Changing Approaches to Macroeconomic Dynamics," GREDEG Working Papers 2020-39, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:50:y:2018:i:4:p:757-787. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2879 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.