Milton Friedman has died at the age of 94. He won the Nobel Prize in
Economics in 1976 and was a strong advocate of Capitalism and limited
government.


Actually he was a strong advocate of de-politicized monetary
policy.

Maxprop wrote:
Friedman was a good man. His brand of economic sensibility is missing in
most circles today.


And his economic principles are totally missing from the
practices of those who most loudly advocate his wisdom.

DSK

DSK wrote:
Maxprop wrote:

Friedman was a good man. His brand of economic sensibility is missing
in most circles today.

And his economic principles are totally missing from the practices of
those who most loudly advocate his wisdom.

You mean you're supposed to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk?

Man, you're harsh. I bet you believe in accountability too. Why are you
such a hard ass when we know the debt fairy is coming along any day now?

//Walk

"Walt" wrote in


the debt fairy is coming along any day now?



Why is borrowing money at historically low interest rates so bad?

Especially if followed by a growth in the money supply that exceeds the
increase in the GNP?

"Walt" wrote
the debt fairy is coming along any day now?


The bad news, he's engaged to the foreign-policy fairy.


Gilligan wrote:
Why is borrowing money at historically low interest rates so bad?


It wouldn't be so bad, if the money were spent on something
constructive that offered future returns.


Especially if followed by a growth in the money supply that exceeds the
increase in the GNP?


??? Increasing the gov't debt has very little to do with
increasing the money supply. And the increases in GNP have
rather paltry, lately. And this is after starting a war,
traditionally a great way to goose a national economy; and
eliminating all those pesky environmental regulations, which
should also give a boost. What's up with that?

Besides, everybody knows that those darn libby-rull
Democrats are the ones who don't know beans about the
economy. Now that they're in charge, just LOOK at the deficit!

This thread got side tracked somehow. What I started out to
say, for 1 ASA/economist point, can anybody answer what
economic theory did Friedman produce? 2 points if you can
explain it.

DSK

DSK wrote:
"Walt" wrote

the debt fairy is coming along any day now?

The bad news, he's engaged to the foreign-policy fairy.

Obviously our problems in Iraq are a direct result of some of you not
clapping vigorously enough.

This thread got side tracked somehow. What I started out to say, for 1
ASA/economist point, can anybody answer what economic theory did
Friedman produce?

Monetarism.

2 points if you can explain it.

Hah. A trick question. What color is the wind?


//Walt

This thread got side tracked somehow. What I started out to say, for 1
ASA/economist point, can anybody answer what economic theory did
Friedman produce?


Walt wrote:
Monetarism.


Well, you're in the right ballpark. Friedman was a
monetarist and his thoeries revitalized monetarism
(discredited for a long time even after the obvious hint of
the Weimar Republic's fiscal undoing). He's been called a
Neo-Monetarist. But there is a specifc term (also used in
sailing) that is the key to his main monetarist theory, in
fact this is what makes the whole thing work.



2 points if you can explain it.

Hah. A trick question. What color is the wind?


*I* can explain it, and I'm not all that smart. C'mon do we
have to wait for Gilligan to put donw his coffee and join in?

DSK

DSK wrote:

Well, you're in the right ballpark. Friedman was a monetarist and his
thoeries revitalized monetarism ... But there is a specifc term (also used in
sailing) that is the key to his main monetarist theory, in fact this is
what makes the whole thing work.


Sailing term? You mean "money"?

You've been hanging around the keelboat racers too much, Doug.


//Walt
// "They're gaining on us, Skipper. What do we do?"
// "Not to worry. Stand by to deploy more money."

"DSK" wrote in message
...
"Walt" wrote
the debt fairy is coming along any day now?


The bad news, he's engaged to the foreign-policy fairy.


Gilligan wrote:
Why is borrowing money at historically low interest rates so bad?


It wouldn't be so bad, if the money were spent on something constructive
that offered future returns.


Especially if followed by a growth in the money supply that exceeds the
increase in the GNP?


??? Increasing the gov't debt has very little to do with increasing the
money supply. And the increases in GNP have rather paltry, lately. And
this is after starting a war, traditionally a great way to goose a
national economy; and eliminating all those pesky environmental
regulations, which should also give a boost. What's up with that?

Pay the debt with inflated currency.



Besides, everybody knows that those darn libby-rull Democrats are the ones
who don't know beans about the economy. Now that they're in charge, just
LOOK at the deficit!

This thread got side tracked somehow. What I started out to say, for 1
ASA/economist point, can anybody answer what economic theory did Friedman
produce? 2 points if you can explain it.

I don't think he produced any new economic theory but rather contributed
deeper understanding and refinement to old ones.



DSK

Gilligan wrote:
Pay the debt with inflated currency.


When the debt is one of the drivers of inflation, how is
inflation going to oustrip debt? Isn't this like putting the
cart before the horse?





This thread got side tracked somehow. What I started out to say, for 1
ASA/economist point, can anybody answer what economic theory did Friedman
produce? 2 points if you can explain it.



I don't think he produced any new economic theory but rather contributed
deeper understanding and refinement to old ones.


AFAIK he definitely invented something new, but five or six
minutes of googling has failed to produce a reference to it,
unless you already know the specific term.

DSK

"DSK" wrote in message
...
Gilligan wrote:
Pay the debt with inflated currency.


When the debt is one of the drivers of inflation, how is inflation going
to oustrip debt? Isn't this like putting the cart before the horse?


Germany in the 1920's. Simply turn on the printing presses and devalue the
currency.






This thread got side tracked somehow. What I started out to say, for 1
ASA/economist point, can anybody answer what economic theory did Friedman
produce? 2 points if you can explain it.



I don't think he produced any new economic theory but rather contributed
deeper understanding and refinement to old ones.


AFAIK he definitely invented something new, but five or six minutes of
googling has failed to produce a reference to it, unless you already know
the specific term.


Don't you know it?

He didn't come up with any new theories. He refined old ones. Have you ever
read "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises? He was a founder of the Austrian
school of economics, a predecessor of the Chicago school which laid a good
deal of the ground work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises






DSK