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Milton Friedman: A Biography by Lanny Ebenstein
Born the son of immigrant parents, Milton Friedman went on to become a major figure during the resurgence of American conservatism. As an advisor to the Reagan administration and a widely read columnist, he played a vital role in shaping government policy and public opinion while he made headlines for his controversial views. Drawing on the author's unprecedented access to personal archives and to Friedman himself over the past decade, this is the first book to trace his life and development as an economic theorist. With a combination of intimate personal detail and fascinating exploration of economic theory, this is a revealing look at the man regarded by many as a hero of libertarianism and laissez-faire economics.
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First published January 23, 2007
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About the author
Alan Ebenstein
13 books7 followersAlan Oliver (Lanny) Ebenstein is an American political scientist, educator and author, known from his biographical works on Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.
Born in Princeton, New Jersey to William Ebenstein (1910-1976), who was also an educator and author, and Ruth Ebenstein. He obtained his BA at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1982, and his phD at the London School of Economics in 1988.
After his graduation Ebenstein was instructor at the Antioch University from 1990 to 1993, and was director of research at the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, established by Art Rupe. In 1992 he was Republican nominee at the California State Assembly election, 1992 for the 35th District. From 1990 to 1998 he was member of the Santa Barbara Board of Education. Since 2008 he is lecturer in economic history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also became adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
In 1988 Ebenstein co-edited the 5th edition of the Great political thinkers: Plato to the present, which was first published in 1952 edited by his father. Since the 1990s he wrote a series of biographies on economists, starting with Edwin Cannan in 1997, and further on Friedrich Hayek in 2001, and Milton Friedman in 2007.
Born in Princeton, New Jersey to William Ebenstein (1910-1976), who was also an educator and author, and Ruth Ebenstein. He obtained his BA at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1982, and his phD at the London School of Economics in 1988.
After his graduation Ebenstein was instructor at the Antioch University from 1990 to 1993, and was director of research at the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, established by Art Rupe. In 1992 he was Republican nominee at the California State Assembly election, 1992 for the 35th District. From 1990 to 1998 he was member of the Santa Barbara Board of Education. Since 2008 he is lecturer in economic history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also became adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
In 1988 Ebenstein co-edited the 5th edition of the Great political thinkers: Plato to the present, which was first published in 1952 edited by his father. Since the 1990s he wrote a series of biographies on economists, starting with Edwin Cannan in 1997, and further on Friedrich Hayek in 2001, and Milton Friedman in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 31, 2012
herald as one of the leading economist of the 20th century, often holding views that were unpopular at the time which today are considered truisms.
friedman lead a revolution in economic thought (challenging established keynesian economics) known as the "chicago school", characterized by a rigorous belief in the efficacy of the free market, skepticism of government intervention and the study of economic theory as a tool for analyzing concrete problems through empirical testing (as opposed to an intellectual discipline).
friedman is best remembered for his contribution to the causes of personal freedom and economic, political and civil liberty. it has been suggested that people of all political persuasions should read his book, "capitalism and freedom", a book on economic and political freedom and a linear descendent to mill's "on liberty".
friedman lead a revolution in economic thought (challenging established keynesian economics) known as the "chicago school", characterized by a rigorous belief in the efficacy of the free market, skepticism of government intervention and the study of economic theory as a tool for analyzing concrete problems through empirical testing (as opposed to an intellectual discipline).
friedman is best remembered for his contribution to the causes of personal freedom and economic, political and civil liberty. it has been suggested that people of all political persuasions should read his book, "capitalism and freedom", a book on economic and political freedom and a linear descendent to mill's "on liberty".
November 17, 2021
Milton Friedman is always my idol. His idea in the "Capitalism and Freedom" changed the way I thought the world should be. First of all, I believed in Marxism after I completed "The Communist Manifesto" and "Das Capital". But after I read Friedman's books and studied his theory, there changed the way I looked at this world. Friedman was the greatest economist in the 20th century. Always.
I read this book and I think that this tiny man was a good fighter. His legendary will always inspire the next generations.
I read this book and I think that this tiny man was a good fighter. His legendary will always inspire the next generations.
April 10, 2008
serves as a mostly chronological compendium of friedman's oeuvre. also provides a nice cross-over between biographical and epistemological - you get the stories of milton's childhood to an account of how his economic theories/methodologies developed.
November 21, 2011
Shoddy editing and an uninspired writing style kept this from being a four star introductory biography of one of the greatest economists of twentieth century.
December 12, 2024
Lanny Ebenstein’s “Milton Friedman” is a chronological view of Friedman’s life and work. Ebenstein’s treatment is balanced and comprehensive, while still remaining accessible to the general reader.
Born the son of Hungarian immigrants, Friedman went on to become a pioneer in mathematics, a contrarian, then a standard-bearer in macroeconomic theory, and finally, a major figure in the American libertarian movement. As an adviser to the Reagan administration, a widely read columnist, and a television star he played an influential role in fostering the rejuvenation of free market thought in the 1980s.
After taking degrees in mathematics and economics at Rutgers, the 20 year old Friedman studied economics at Chicago and Columbia, Hence, he was exposed to the methodological controversies affecting the discipline in depression stricken America.
After a two year stint at Treasury, Friedman joined a group of mathematicians at SRG, where he worked on defense related issues, including the Manhattan Project. At SRG, Friedman along with Wallis and Wald refined sequential analysis as a statistical technique where the sample size is not determined a priori. Data is evaluated as it is collected, and further sampling is stopped in accordance with a pre-determined stopping rule as soon as significant results are observed. Thus it is a more economical method for evaluating data, insofar as a conclusion may be reached much earlier than would be possible with classical analysis.
Following the war, Friedman returned to academia. Ebenstein writes with clarity. He integrates Friedman’s consumption function work to his work on monetary theory; both were a radical departure from the regnant Keynesianism of the period. Moreover, Ebenstein links this empirical work to Friedman’s influential statement on methodology: “The Methodology of Positive Economics.”
As the 1960s dawned, Friedman became a public intellectual and an apostle of freedom. In “Freedom and Capitalism” he demonstrated the inextricable nexus between economic and political freedom. His “Free to choose” became a worldwide phenomenon, and in 1976, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Science. Only Hayek had a comparable role in changing the zeitgeist.
Ebenstein’s book is well-researched and succinct. For the most part he avoids faculty lounge gossip, and deals with the controversies the profession faced during Friedman’s lifetime.
Born the son of Hungarian immigrants, Friedman went on to become a pioneer in mathematics, a contrarian, then a standard-bearer in macroeconomic theory, and finally, a major figure in the American libertarian movement. As an adviser to the Reagan administration, a widely read columnist, and a television star he played an influential role in fostering the rejuvenation of free market thought in the 1980s.
After taking degrees in mathematics and economics at Rutgers, the 20 year old Friedman studied economics at Chicago and Columbia, Hence, he was exposed to the methodological controversies affecting the discipline in depression stricken America.
After a two year stint at Treasury, Friedman joined a group of mathematicians at SRG, where he worked on defense related issues, including the Manhattan Project. At SRG, Friedman along with Wallis and Wald refined sequential analysis as a statistical technique where the sample size is not determined a priori. Data is evaluated as it is collected, and further sampling is stopped in accordance with a pre-determined stopping rule as soon as significant results are observed. Thus it is a more economical method for evaluating data, insofar as a conclusion may be reached much earlier than would be possible with classical analysis.
Following the war, Friedman returned to academia. Ebenstein writes with clarity. He integrates Friedman’s consumption function work to his work on monetary theory; both were a radical departure from the regnant Keynesianism of the period. Moreover, Ebenstein links this empirical work to Friedman’s influential statement on methodology: “The Methodology of Positive Economics.”
As the 1960s dawned, Friedman became a public intellectual and an apostle of freedom. In “Freedom and Capitalism” he demonstrated the inextricable nexus between economic and political freedom. His “Free to choose” became a worldwide phenomenon, and in 1976, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Science. Only Hayek had a comparable role in changing the zeitgeist.
Ebenstein’s book is well-researched and succinct. For the most part he avoids faculty lounge gossip, and deals with the controversies the profession faced during Friedman’s lifetime.
January 30, 2022
Decent book that provides “popularized” view of Friedman’s work without skipping over the details that matter. The available treatment of Milton Friedman probably fails in one dimension or the other. This book doesn’t hit in a home run in any one category, but does cover each of the bases decently well with a fairly exhaustive bibliographical essay.
The author has clearly read all of Friedman’s works and does a respectable job synthesizing his work, including linking Friedman’s consumption function work to his work on the quantity theory of money, which I don’t quite an account meant for popular audiences ever doing. This is a minor grievance I have when Friedman’s work is being presented insofar as the quantity theory is sometimes presented as, implicitly, being undertheorized.
The book does feel disjointed, at times, and so fluency could have been improved. But, worthwhile introduction to Friedman’s thoughts for the reader not necessarily ready for an overly technical overview or too familiar with his work.
The author has clearly read all of Friedman’s works and does a respectable job synthesizing his work, including linking Friedman’s consumption function work to his work on the quantity theory of money, which I don’t quite an account meant for popular audiences ever doing. This is a minor grievance I have when Friedman’s work is being presented insofar as the quantity theory is sometimes presented as, implicitly, being undertheorized.
The book does feel disjointed, at times, and so fluency could have been improved. But, worthwhile introduction to Friedman’s thoughts for the reader not necessarily ready for an overly technical overview or too familiar with his work.
March 10, 2023
This book provides a very nice overview of Milton Friedman's life and professional work, albeit from an unapologetically biased, pro-Friedman stance. It would have been improved with some discussion of dissenting perspectives from his main adversaries. It's also noteworthy that the book came out a few years before the crash of 2008, so the flaws in some of his predictions are exposed in glaring light (as were the those of many economists).
July 27, 2021
boring,too technical
January 3, 2025
5 stars
January 4, 2009
This is a must read for anyone who wants to obtain an introduction to economics. This is a biography and also an introduction to the life and accomplishments of Milton Friedman. The book covers Mr. Friedman’s life and accomplishments and also provides the reader with many recommendations for additional reading and research. The book also provides a very clear description of the Keynesianism economic theory of big government control of the economy and Friedman’s capitalism and free private property economic theory. Friedman looks at Economics from a factual basis vs. a hypotheses approach. Some of Friedman’s quotes”
“Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own”, 1993
“ Inflation is a monetary phenomenon:, 2005
Reading this book may be of help to understand why we are in the economic situation we are finding ourselves in today in the USA.
“Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own”, 1993
“ Inflation is a monetary phenomenon:, 2005
Reading this book may be of help to understand why we are in the economic situation we are finding ourselves in today in the USA.
February 9, 2017
Короткий рассказ о длинном жизненном пути одного из самых известных людей мира. Биография помогает посмотреть на Милтона Фридмана не с позиции сегодняшнего дня, когда он является одним из символов нынешней экономической ортодоксии, в частности, "Вашингтонского консенсуса", а как на революционера, внесшего вклад в прежде не существовавший консенсус.
Хотя внимание автора книги сосредоточено на его герое, влиятельном публичном интеллектуале, постепенно проясняется сцена, на которой возможно появление таких героев: сильные университеты, где учителя и в дальнейшем коллеги помогают раскрыться таланту, и публика, которая уважает знания. В одном из эпизодов книги во время речи Милтона Фридмана для аплодисментов поднимаются почти 2000 политических, деловых и интеллектуальных лидеров страны. Для меня открытый вопрос: возможно ли такое в нашей стране?
Хотя внимание автора книги сосредоточено на его герое, влиятельном публичном интеллектуале, постепенно проясняется сцена, на которой возможно появление таких героев: сильные университеты, где учителя и в дальнейшем коллеги помогают раскрыться таланту, и публика, которая уважает знания. В одном из эпизодов книги во время речи Милтона Фридмана для аплодисментов поднимаются почти 2000 политических, деловых и интеллектуальных лидеров страны. Для меня открытый вопрос: возможно ли такое в нашей стране?
February 21, 2012
This book is an acceptable introduction for anyone trying to get their feet wet in Milton Friedman's body of work. Also, there are some interesting facts about Friedman's personal and family life that perhaps are not published elsewhere.
The research is good if you are interested in the people who influenced Friedman's thinking early in his career, and the context to each of his books.
The book, however, is not specially well written/edited. The funny, witty personality of Milton Friedman hardly shows through and it's a shame. Watch his old shows if you want to know him better (they're on YouTube).
The research is good if you are interested in the people who influenced Friedman's thinking early in his career, and the context to each of his books.
The book, however, is not specially well written/edited. The funny, witty personality of Milton Friedman hardly shows through and it's a shame. Watch his old shows if you want to know him better (they're on YouTube).
September 3, 2015
Milton Friedman changed the way many view the world, including me. This book takes an in-depth look into his life, challenges he faces, his theoretical successes, his contributions to the Chicago School, his desire to reduce the scope of government in education through school vouchers, and much more. There are many lessons, both good and bad, from this Nobel prize winner. His search for empirical answers to important questions is forever embedded in economics for the better. We need the next Friedman who will fight for free markets and explain it in a way everyone can understand.
December 29, 2007
At less than 250 pages, this is a pretty good overview about Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize winning economist. Like many biographies, it contained a fair amount of references to other people Dr. Friedman met and/or collaborated with during his career. If you're looking for details on Dr. Friedman's approach to economics, you'd be better off reading one of his other works such as "Capitalism & Freedom". However, if you want to know more about the Man, this is a good place to start.
March 15, 2015
Accessible to those without an economics background, but it is still at least half about the history of Friedman's ideas and theories, and that means quite a bit of economics vocabulary. I already know Friedman's work, so the personal biography was of more interest to me. It is well written, and does a nice job of presenting both sides of the debates he had with other academics and politicians.
September 7, 2011
This is quite a good biography of Milton Friedman, the greatest economist at least since JM Keynes. It starts a little slowly--Friedman's childhood was happy and uneventful. But it soon picks up as it gets to his phenomenal career as an academic and public intellectual.
February 7, 2012
I don't actually agree with Friedman's economics but I wanted to know more about him as a person so I read this book. He seems like he would have been a very interesting man to know. This is not an official biography so it doesn't really go into depth in either his life or his ideas.
January 23, 2014
Must have a background in economics to understand this book. In my opinion it could have been a lot better. The book was all over the place and it didn't describe to much of what I wanted to know about Milton.
December 23, 2008
I am a fan of Milton Friedman....I am not a fan however, of the Biographer Lanny Ebenstein. Felt the book was disjointed in many places. Will be looking for another biography on Friedman to read.
May 21, 2016
Friedman je zaslužio bolju biografiju.
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May 31, 2024A comprehensive and well written biography of Milton Friedman that is still highly accessible for someone lacking an extensive background in economics.
March 14, 2012
Not a bad read if you're into Economics.
April 23, 2017
Not enough impartial biography of Milton Friedman.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews