BFI Deputy Director Chad Syverson reflects on Milton Friedman’s contributions to economics and his enduring influence on economic scholarship in remarks commemorating the 50th anniversary of Friedman’s 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Milton Friedman. Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Five Facts about Friedman
Born
July 31, 1912, in Brooklyn, New York.
University of Chicago
Friedman was affiliated with the University of Chicago when he received the prize.
1976 Nobel Prize
He received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Prize Motivation
The award recognized his work in consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and stabilization policy.
Prize Share
Friedman was the sole recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1976.
Why the 1976 Nobel Still Matters
Friedman’s Nobel Prize recognized research on questions that remain familiar today: inflation, monetary policy, economic stabilization, and how evidence changes economists’ understanding of the economy.
His Nobel lecture later used changing views about inflation and unemployment as an example of how economic thinking evolves as new evidence emerges.
One Week in Stockholm
Milton and Rose Friedman later recalled the ceremonies, press attention, demonstrations, Nobel Banquet, and lecture that filled their week in Stockholm.
“I hadn’t quite realized until we were in Stockholm how much the Nobel Prizes mean to Sweden.”
Milton Friedman, One Week in Stockholm
Milton and Rose Friedman at the Nobel festivities, 1976.
The 1976 Nobel Banquet Speech
Friedman reflected on the attention that followed the award and joked that “not only is there no free lunch, there is no free prize.”
Read the banquet speech →
Does Monetarism Still Have Currency?
Fifty years ago, Milton Friedman won the Nobel Prize, and his best-known idea, monetarism, has been on a roller-coaster ever since. The notion that steady money growth produces steady economic growth was invoked by the Fed under Paul Volcker to justify a brutal fight against inflation, fell out of favor as the link between money and the economy broke down, and is getting a second look after the post-COVID inflation and new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s declaration that “money matters.” While central banks no longer target the money supply, much of Friedman’s thinking, from the natural rate of unemployment to the power of expectations, is built into how they operate today.
Read the full essay from economics journalist Peter Coy→