Allen S. Sanderson has a nice tribute marking the 100th anniversary of Milton Friedman's birth in "Remembering Milton," which appears in the Second Quarter 2012 issue of the Milken Institute Review. (Available on-line, but free registration required.) The article offers a number of nice reminisces from Friedman's colleagues and students (two groups that often overlap).
Along with Friedman's status as one of the handful of most prominent economists of the 20th century, he also had a nearly wicked rhetorical ability to turn a phrase. Here are a few of Friedman's one-liners collected by Sanderson:
Concentratedpower is not rendered harmless by the goodintentions of those who create it.
Historysuggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for politicalfreedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.
The problem ofsocial organization is how to set up an arrangementunder which greed will do the least harm; capitalism isthat kind of a system.
With somenotable exceptions, businessmen favor free enterprise in general butare opposed to it when it comes to themselves.
The free manwill ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he cando for his country.
The case forprohibiting drugs is exactly as strong and as weak as the case forprohibiting people from overeating.
If you put thefederal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five yearsthere’d be a shortage of sand.
Only a crisis —actual or perceived — produces real change. When thatcrisis occurs, the actions that are taken dependon the ideas that are lying around.
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