Milton Friedman: A Concise Guide to the Ideas and Influence of the Free-Market Economist

摘要

Toward the end of his life, John Kenneth Galbraith summed it up nicely. "The age of Keynes," he wrote, "has given way to the age of Milton Friedman." What exactly does that mean? Eamonn Butler writes a lucid account of why the most influential economist of our time is so important. It is hard for economic students today to even imagine what the profession was like a half century ago. The prevailing thinking very much reflected Keynesian orthodoxy, including the beliefs that: 1. Capitalist economies are inherently unstable, given to cycles of booms and busts. 2. Government can offset these events and smooth out the cycles with carefully timed countercyclical policies.