Sheldon Richman reports that Rose Director Friedman passed away today due to heart failure at the age of 98. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Friedman several times when I was at the Hoover Institution and again when I participated in the Dallas Fed ceremony to honor Milton and Rose Friedman. She was a very charming woman and a feisty defender of the free market and the classical liberal philosophy of limited government.
The world needs more courageous and brilliant thinkers such as Milton and Rose Friedman. May their work inspire generations of economists and social philosophers to think hard, write clearly, and communicate effectively the principles of a society of free and responsible individuals. I know I will be handing out copies of Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose to bright students who show an interest in these ideas for years to come (I have a box full of Free to Choose) in my office for this very purpose that I bought shortly after Milton Friedman passed away.
My condolences to the family.
Milton Friedman was an eloquent, clear, and uncompromising defender of liberty.
U-Tube has an interview that he did on the show "Open Mind" from 1975 that is a delight to watch. Friedman at his best.
The link is:
http://www.archive.org/details/openmind_ep494
If only we had more spokesmen against the paternalistic, interventionist state today who could argue and explain with Friedman's clarity, as demonstrated in this interview.
Richard Ebeling
Posted by: Richard Ebeling | August 18, 2009 at 06:36 PM
So sad news. They were a great match. And she worked a lot in the production of the series Free to choose.
Posted by: Renato Lima | August 19, 2009 at 10:23 PM