Milton Friedman, July 31, 1912 - November 16, 2006

It's a sad day, but one that will be marked with deep reflection on the part of many freedom loving individuals all over the world. It is interesting to note that on the day Mr. Friedman died, The President of the United States was arriving in Vietnam to speak with South Asian leaders about free trade. It also provides enormous contrast with respect to the North Korea issue. Even Communist countries, who embrace market reform and trade with their neighbors, can achieve markets that greatly benefit their people, free countries, doubly so. Communist countries that stick to hard line Marxist theory, and shut out the rest of the world, end up like North Korea, isolated, desperate, impoverished, and a constant threat to human life.
The President said some great thinks about this great man at his 90th. Birthday celebration. Excepts to follow.

“Milton Friedman has shown us that when government attempts to substitute its own judgments for the judgments of free people, the results are usually disastrous. In contrast to the free market’s invisible hand, which improves the lives of people, the government’s invisible foot tramples on people’s hopes and destroys their dreams. He has never claimed that free markets are perfect. Yet he has demonstrated that even an imperfect market produces better results than arrogant experts and grasping bureaucrats. But Milton Friedman does not object to government controls solely because they are ineffective. His deeper objections flow from a moral framework. He has taught us that a free-market system’s main justification is its moral strength. Human freedom serves the cause of human dignity. Freedom rewards creativity and work, and you cannot reduce freedom in our economy without reducing freedom in our lives.”

“Milton has shown us how freedom can enhance our national security. He is the intellectual godfather of our all-volunteer Army. He argued that America could rely on the dedication of soldiers who serve in the armed forces of their own free will—and he was right. We have recently seen the quality and idealism and skill of the all-volunteer Army. Those who serve our country by choice are serving it with honor. Milton Friedman has also shown us how freedom can foster educational reform. For many years, he has been a tireless advocate of school choice as a way of empowering parents and improving the performance of our schools. Educational reform advances when parents have the information and the authority to push for reform. And there is no greater authority than a good alternative. Poor children in America need better options when they’re trapped in schools that will not teach and will not change. In all
of these issues and debates, Milton Friedman has argued with consistency and courage, and trademark bluntness. His ideas have influence around the world. And by his strength of conviction, he has served his country with distinction. And it has been recognized as such—after all, he received the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics, and in 1988 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1938, Milton Friedman married Rose Director, an outstanding economist in her own right—and the only person known to have ever won an argument with Milton.”

Thanks to Michelle Malkin for posting a link to the transcript on her web log.
You can read it here.
Mr. Friedman was a tremendously intelligent man, and I hold him in the absolute highest regard. I highly recommend to everyone that you add one or two of his books to your reading/Christmas list this year. (Definitely worth a trip over to Amazon.com)
Also, I would like to ask that everyone take a moment to reflect upon how great life is, not just in our country, but in every country that forms this great international marketplace that we have built with so many others. Thanks, in no small part, to the work of this great man.