2012 is the centenary of the birth of one of the greatest modern defenders of the free society, Milton Friedman (1912–2006). Bradley will overview Friedman's life and ideas, documenting how this technical economist became more libertarian and “radical” through his long, distinguished career.
While broadly libertarian, Friedman attracted voracious criticism from “Mr. Libertarian” Murray Rothbard and members of the Austrian School of economics, not to mention Objectivists critical of utilitarian ethics. Friedman's trenchant logic within the mainstream of thought, however, opened the door for out-of-the-mainstream intellectuals such as Rothbard, Mises, and Hayek to help foster today's libertarian resurgence.
