Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States, 1973–1976, Vol. 3
Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States, 1973–1976, Vol. 3
The third installment in the definitive account of the famed economist’s role in economic debate—and his lasting influence on economic policy.
Milton Friedman is widely recognized as one of the most significant contributors to economics in the modern age. Yet no previous study has distilled Friedman’s vast body of writings into an authoritative account of his research, his policy views, and his interventions in public debate. Through his sweeping series on the most influential economist of the second half of the twentieth century, Edward Nelson closes this gap: Milton Friedman and EconomicDebate in the United States is the defining narrative on the famed public intellectual—the first to grapple comprehensively with Friedman’s research output, economic framework, and legacy.
Volume 3 chronicles Friedman’s activities from 1973 to 1976, encompassing his final years at the University of Chicago and a period that saw his further ascension in national prominence. In the mid-1970s, economic news dominated American political discourse as the nation endured double-digit inflation and recession. It was during this time that Friedman’s views became a center of economic debate in both the research world and public debate, while his explanation for “stagflation” formed part of the critique of stabilization policy that would lead to his 1976 Nobel Prize. Nelson details the controversies that Friedman faced in the media—including his contrarian stances on inflation’s cure, the economic implications of oil price shocks, and the social responsibility of business—and how Friedman concluded that the world needed a “new Adam Smith” to press the case for free markets. Drawing upon a large body of documentary sources, interviews with dozens of the people closest to Friedman, and his own expertise in Friedman’s research area of monetary analysis, Nelson provides the definitive account of the formative (and uneven) events in Friedman’s foray into life as a public intellectual and how his research permanently shifted economic thinking.
944 pages | 2 halftones, 5 line drawings, 2 tables | 6 x 9
Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States
Economics and Business: Economics--General Theory and Principles, Economics--Money and Banking
Table of Contents
Introduction
Conventions Used in This Book
Chapter 1: Breakthroughs and Frustrations
I. The National Scene
II. The Global Dimension
Chapter 2: Monetary Policy and Public Policy Debates, 1973 to 1974
I. Events and Activities Related to Monetary Policy and Public Policy Debates, 1973–74
II. Issues Related to Monetary Policy and Public Policy Debates, 1973–74
Indexation
Watergate
III. Personalities in Monetary Policy and Public Policy Debates, 1973–74
Albert Rees
Arthur Schlesinger
Chapter 3: Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1973 to 1974
I. Events and Activities Related to Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1973–74
II. Issues Related to Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1973–74
The First Oil Shock
Into the Floating-Rate Era
III. Personalities in Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1973–74
George Shultz
William Nordhaus
Chapter 4: Debates on Business, Finance, and Social Policy, 1973 to 1974
I. Events and Activities Related to Debates on Business, Finance, and Social Policy, 1973–74
II. Issues Related to Debates on Business, Finance, and Social Policy, 1973–74
Friedman and Finance
Culmination of the Conscription Debate
III. Personalities in Debates on Business, Finance, and Social Policy, 1973–74
Gary Becker
Walter Heller
Chapter 5: Debates on Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Stabilization, 1975 to 1976
I. Events and Activities in Debates on Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Stabilization, 1975–76
II. Issues Related to Debates on Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Stabilization, 1975–76
The Beginning of Monetary Targeting
The Financial Crisis of 1973–75 and Its Aftermath
III. Personalities in Debates on Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Stabilization, 1975–76
Arthur Okun
Ronald Reagan
Chapter 6: Debates on Regulation, the Phillips Curve, and Policy Rules, 1975 to 1976
I. Events and Activities Related to Debates on Regulation, the Phillips Curve, and Policy Rules, 1975–76
II. Issues Related to Debates on Regulation, the Phillips Curve, and Policy Rules, 1975–76
Policy Rules and the Constitution
The Phillips Curve and the Complexity of Stabilization Policy
III. Personalities in Debates on Regulation, the Phillips Curve, and Policy Rules, 1975–76
Campbell McConnell
Henry Jackson
Chapter 7: Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1975 to 1976
I. Events and Activities Related to Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1975–76
II. Issues Related to Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1975–76
The Chile Trip: Controversy and Response
Trade Credits and the Soviet Union
III. Personalities in Debates on International Economic Policy and Geopolitical Developments, 1975–76
Henry Kissinger
Michael Mussa
Appendix: Friedman’s Workshop on Money and Banking in the 1960s and 1970s
Notes
Bibliography
Index