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Economic Development and Freedom: The Legacy of Peter Bauer
By James A. Dorn
Introduction
The death of Peter Bauer on May 2, 2002, at 86 years old, marked the passing of a great economist and a hero of the market revolution that has been sweeping the globe. In recognition of his pioneering work in development economics and his lifelong commitment to the principles of a free society, Bauer was named the first recipient of the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, a $500,000 prize awarded every two years by the Cato Institute. Bauer was awarded the prize posthumously on May 9, at the Cato Institute's 25th anniversary celebration. At that ceremony, Milton Friedman expressed his admiration for Bauer with these words: "There are few things that are more important than to honor those people who have promoted liberty around the world, and Peter deserved that prize. A friend of mine for 50 years, he was always consistent and persistent in presenting ideas that were unpopular but correct."
For years Bauer fought against so-called development experts who saw comprehensive central planning, protectionism, and foreign aid as prerequisites for economic advance. The collapse of communism in Soviet Bloc countries in 1989 and in the USSR in 1991, and the end of central planning in China and other developing countries, were the defining moments of the 20th century from a market-liberal perspective. Those events, in particular, have vindicated Bauer's lifework.
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