Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States, 1977–1979, Vol. 4

The fourth installment of the sweeping account of the most influential economist in modern times, focusing on his crossover into the public sphere. Milton Friedman is widely recognized as one of the most significant contributors to economics in the modern age. Yet no previous study has distilled Friedman’s vast body of writings into an authoritative account of his research, his policy views, and his interventions in public debate. Through his sweeping series on the most influential economist of the second half of the twentieth century, Edward Nelson closes this gap: Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States is the defining narrative on the famed public intellectual—the first to grapple comprehensively with Friedman’s research output, economic framework, and legacy. Volume 4 of Nelson’s intellectual and policy biography offers an exacting portrait of Friedman’s career following his departure from the University of Chicago. Spanning 1977 to 1979, Nelson’s narrative details Friedman’s move to California and his greater immersion in public policy, including his project with Rose Friedman and television professionals to create a TV series giving his viewpoint. Nelson details the successes and failures of Friedman’s years of extraordinary influence, including: His warnings about US inflation returning to double digits in 1979; The changes in professional thinking in the US economics profession and policymaking toward acceptance of Friedman's view that inflation is a monetary phenomenon; The rise of Paul Volcker to head of the Federal Reserve and his integration of monetarist ideas into US monetary policy; Friedman's proposal to phase in a zero-tariff arrangement in the United States; His role in the tax revolt of the 1970s—including his break with the emerging supply-side economics movement on the effects of tax cuts; The second oil-price shock and Friedman's critique of the Carter Administration's energy policy; The resilience after 1976 of Ronald Reagan's presidential ambitions and Friedman's 1979 endorsement of Reagan for president in the 1980 election. Drawing upon a large body of documentary sources, interviews with dozens of the people closest to Friedman, and his own expertise in Friedman’s research area of monetary analysis, Nelson offers the definitive account of what proved to be pivotal years for Friedman and the field of economics.