Milton Friedman, capitalism's Che

I had the honor to meet Milton Friedman in San Fransisco in 2005. It was the annual pilgrimage of the Milton Friedman Group from the University of Chicago, (I was co-chair at the time). The first strong impression was his short stature that emphasized by contrast his intellectual giantness. In that three-hour lunch we bombarded him with all kinds of questions. His general knowledge of current political issues was phenomenal.

I haven't read any obituaries yet, but I personally believe that Milton Friedman's major achievement will not be his vigorous analysis or the development of new models. His longlasting impact will be the revival of economic liberalism as a romantic movement. With his passion, MF removed the conservative, boring stigma from economic liberalism. After him liberalism was the pursuit of freedom that could inspire young people hungry for a cause to fight for. He was the face of capitalism, a cool smart guy that could inspire the new generation. Just picture this: at UChicago we used to wear Milton Friedman t-shirts, similar to the Che Guevera ones.

Milton Friedman, our Che.