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CIAO DATE: 6/5/2006
Milton and Rose Friedman: Liberty's Couple
Lawrence B. Lindsey
December 2005
Abstract
Milton and Rose Friedman started a revolution in public policy with the publication of their 1980 book Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, which still frames today's debates over limited government, greater economic freedom, and expanded choice in education and health care.
In the company of history's great revolutionaries, Rose and Milton Friedman stand out as clear anomalies. Diminutive in stature and modest in speech and manner, they cannot easily be imagined manning the barricades or hectoring the crowds from a soapbox. Most important, unlike other visionaries who sought to change the world, the Friedmans did not say, “Put us in charge of the government, and we will make your life better.” Rather, they argued that governments then in charge should get out of the way so that individuals could get on with the job of making their own lives better.