Economist Milton Friedman has died.

The Wall Street Journal (Excerpt) (Subscription required) ^ | November 16, 2006

[HAL9000]

BREAKING NEWS: Economist Milton Friedman has died. Full story to follow shortly.

[TChris]

How sad. The world has lost a great mind.

[goldstategop]

Sad news. One of the greatest free market economists of the 20th century. Milton Friedman will be sorely missed.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Dems_R_Losers]

Oh my goodness. This is a sad day for me. I majored in economics in college largely as a result of reading Milton Friedman. A true American hero.

[the invisib1e hand]

God Rest Mr. Friedman and console his remaining Half.

[KarlInOhio]

A loss to all freedom lovers in the world. Rest in Peace, Dr. Friedman.

[West Coast Conservative]

Very sad. He was a great man. He had such an impact on my thinking.

[SuperSonic]

Can you provide details to those of us which do not have WSJ subscriptions?

[Mr. Brightside]

Sad. "Free to Choose" was the first conservative book I read.

[Alexander Rubin]

Milton Friedman was a great man, a great mind and a great American. He will be sorely missed. May the torch be passed to a worthy successor.

[Wormwood]

This is truly a great loss.

[Uncle Ike]

The cumulative IQ of the Universe just dropped by a significant number of points......

[muleskinner]

Prayers for Milton

[eyespysomething]

It's hard to make economics exciting and entertaining, but Friedman did (at least for me, lol). His wisdom will be missed.

[John Lenin]

Sad to hear it, a brilliant man.

[The Great RJ]

Friedman was a disciple of free market economist Friedrich Hayek and brought Hayek to the University of Chicago starting the "Chicago School" of Economics.

[Nascar Dad]

Pure genius.

[goldstategop]

Friedman was NOT a conservative. He was a libertarian thinker.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Callahan]

A true giant.

[dfwgator]

I can't tell you how upsetting this news is. Milton is one of my idols. He is a major reason why I consider myself a conservative.

[jdm]

Economist Milton Friedman has died.

Re$t In Peace.

[NonValueAdded]

Rest In Peace

[jasoncann]

He will be missed.

[goldstategop]

He's really more of a classical liberal than a conservative. Free To Choose is a summation of classical liberal economic theory. Its a mainstay of libertarian thought.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[techcor]

A great economist. R.I.P. And condolences to his family.

[arbooz]

A rare good guy.

[DoctorMichael]

RIP.

Condolences to the family of this great man whose life was dedicated to spreading Freedom by the use of his chosen field of study.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Between Friedman and Solzhenitsyn I became a conservative. He will truly be missed.

[dfwgator]

"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is." - Ronald Reagan

[andy58-in-nh]

Sad. He was a brilliant man who had the ability to communicate economic concepts to a wide audience in everyday language. Through his tireless efforts, Mr. Friedman may have created more conservatives than Ronald Reagan. RIP.

[HOYA97]

I met him once at a conference at Stanford some 13 or 14 years ago. He was a really good speaker and a very wise man.

[B Knotts]

Sad news. He was a great man.

[Mr. Mojo]

I can't recommended his Capitalism and Freedom highly enough.

America has lost one of the great ones.

Rest in peace, Mr. Friedman.

[SuziQ]

It's hard to make economics exciting and entertaining, but Friedman did (at least for me, lol). His wisdom will be missed.

It wasn't called "The Dismal Science" for nothing.

Rest in peace, Mr. Friedman.

[Huck]

You almost can't be too sad for a man who has already accomplished so much. I mean, we all gotta go. Certainly he will be well remembered and appreciated for his work. Can't ask for much more than that.

[goldstategop]

Brilliant economist. However, few Americans would agree with his libertarian take on politics.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Billthedrill]

RIP for a great mind. I have a colleague whose computers are named "Friedman," "Hayek," "Von Mises," and "Bastiat." He'll be wearing black.

[quesney]

At some point I think I deluded myself into thinking this great mind was immortal. Very sad news. He will be missed.

[Unknown Pundit]

RIP Mr. Friedman. Thanks for doing your part in trying to keep this nation free.

[PghBaldy]

Very sad. I enjoyed his book "Free to Choose" immensely.

[blasater1960]

Friedman-Reagan. Brings back good memories. Yet another one of those end of an era things.....

[goldstategop]

No conservative embraces pure libertarianism. It has a small following among American voters. Name the last time the Libertarian Party won an election.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[GSWarrior]

If you want to trash libertarian philosophy I suggest you start your own thread.

[So Cal Rocket]

Sad. "Free to Choose" was the first conservative book I read.

Yes... reading that book is what MADE me a conservative.

[dfwgator]

Here is the rest of Reagan's quote:

"Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path."

[Wormwood]

We get it. You don't like libertarians.

Now can we get back to honoring this man please?

[ssaftler]

That might explain why the flag at our office building is at half-staff.

RIP, Dr. Friedman.

[wagglebee]

How sad.

His principles saved the American economy.

[M203M4]

:(

RIP. He was a great mind.

[goldstategop]

I'm just observing while we and the libertarians both admire free markets we part company on the question of morality and the core functions of government.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus