The progenitors of neoliberalism were novel thinkers who engaged in scholarly pursuits while also seeking to instrumentalize their concepts in the real world. All wrestled with a question that came to dominate much of the twentieth century: Does freedom lead to prosperity, or is it the other way around?
CAMBRIDGE – Milton Friedman was not given to self-doubt. His commitment to the virtues of unobstructed markets made him the guru of deregulation, privatization, and free trade. In his view, unfettered capitalism is the bedrock of civic and political freedom, whereas societies that inhibit the workings of supply and demand are condemned to lose it. These beliefs undergirded the hyper-globalization that prevailed for half a century from the 1970s, and Friedman was their avatar.
CAMBRIDGE – Milton Friedman was not given to self-doubt. His commitment to the virtues of unobstructed markets made him the guru of deregulation, privatization, and free trade. In his view, unfettered capitalism is the bedrock of civic and political freedom, whereas societies that inhibit the workings of supply and demand are condemned to lose it. These beliefs undergirded the hyper-globalization that prevailed for half a century from the 1970s, and Friedman was their avatar.