22 WebMemoPublished by The Heritage Foundation No. 1266 November 29, 2006 Feulner on Friedman: A Tribute Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. The extraordinary life of Professor Milton Fried- mitted to a free society in the United States and man has been extolled in every major newspaper around the world. around the world. His contributions to economic He was one of the Philadelphia Society’s four theory and the free society merit a celebration of founding members, who organized the group in a the life of this extraordinary individual. New York City hotel in December 1964. His role Friedman was small in stature but a giant in the with the Cato Institute, which awards the Milton world of ideas. His passion and wisdom extended Friedman Prize, the Institute of Economic Affairs in well beyond the field of economics and combined London, the Mont Pelerin Society, and a variety of to make him one of the most compelling advocates other pro-freedom entities around the world testify of human freedom the world has known. to his willingness to promote the free society at His ideas earned him the Nobel Prize. But more every available opportunity. than that, his ideas have been translated into public With this short collection of comments about policy in this nation and in countries around the Milton Friedman, I join the legions who have world. And these ideas have empowered millions of praised his work. people to pursue their destiny, opening for them new Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. economic and educational opportunities that have President made them more productive and more prosperous. The Heritage Foundation Over the last 30 years, Friedman enjoyed a close On September 28, 1998 in San Francisco, The relationship with The Heritage Foundation. He was Heritage Foundation awarded the Clare Boothe the featured speaker at the 1979 dedication of our th Luce Award to Drs. Rose D. and Milton Fried- headquarters building, our 1983 10 anniversary man. Edwin Feulner offered these remarks: “Heritage 10” celebration, and other occasions. In 1998, I awarded Rose and Milton Friedman The The price of liberty, Thomas Jefferson reminded Heritage Foundation’s Clare Boothe Luce Award, us, is eternal vigilance. You, Rose and Milton Fried- our most distinguished honor. Friedman and Heri- man, have been second to none in your vigilant, tage have been closely linked in the policy arena for a very long time. Even though he was formally affiliated with our sister institution, the Hoover Institution on This paper, in its entirety, can be found at: War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University, www.heritage.org/research/tradeandforeignaid/wm1266.cfm Published by The Heritage Foundation he never failed to lend his name, his credibility, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE and his energy to building other institutions com- Washington, DC 20002–4999 (202) 546-4400 • heritage.org Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress. No. 1266 November 29, 2006 WebMemo tireless, and effective defense of liberty. At a time Republic, South Korea, Portugal, Spain, and Chile, when it was intellectually fashionable to assert that where the “Chicago Boys,” including some of Fried- collectivism was the wave of the future, you stead- man’s students, created a free-market showcase by fastly championed the moral and practical superi- cutting public spending, attacking inflation, reduc- ority of free markets. At a time when “economic” ing tariffs, and inviting foreign investment. Martin freedom was widely held to be less important than Anderson, former domestic policy advisor to Presi- “political” freedom, you demonstrated that they dent Reagan, concludes, “If you step back and look are, in fact, inseparable. And when others looked to at all the sweeping political and economic changes the power of the state to accomplish their social in the United States and even in other countries, a lot objectives, you reshaped American politics through of people have had an important effect. But if you your advocacy of monetary restraint, deregulation, had to say one person who had the most impact, it’s the volunteer army, school choice, and the flat tax. Milton Friedman.” Rose and Milton, for showing us how to advance Friedman’s continued active involvement in the the cause of freedom with academic rigor and pro- political and economic debate serves as an inspiration phetic zeal, and for strengthening the foundations to all of us involved in the conservative movement. of liberty in America and around the world, The The following is an excerpt of Edwin Feulner’s Heritage Foundation is proud to salute you. President’s Address to the Mont Pelerin Society in On May 26, 1999, the American Conservative Barcelona, Spain, September 1997: Union held the “Conservative Century” Dinner In 1968 Clarence Philbrook of the University of to celebrate the accomplishments of conservatives North Carolina, who was then the Treasurer of the in the last 100 years. The following is an excerpt Society, invited me to a general meeting of the Soci- from a speech delivered by Edwin Feulner: ety in Aviemore, Scotland, as one of the Society’s Another attendee of that first meeting of the guests sponsored by the Earhart Foundation. I have Mont Pelerin Society was Milton Friedman. A pro- been intimately involved with the Society’s affairs moter of free markets and free minds, Milton Fried- ever since. The first meeting of the Society that I man is the spokesman and a symbol of the attended as a full-fledged member was down this remarkable revival of neoclassical economics in our mountain in Montreaux in 1972, and it is still vivid time. Evidence of his dazzling brilliance ranges in my memory today, not least because Milton from discoveries in statistics made 50 years ago— Friedman used the occasion to argue that the battle still known as the “Friedman Test”—to his early of economics had been won; our work was done, advocacy of school choice, deregulation, and the and we should dissolve the Society. I was quite flat tax, which have reshaped policy debate in taken aback by Milton’s argument. At home, Presi- America and around the world. Friedman has dent Nixon had just imposed wage-and-price con- become, in the words of the Economist and the esti- trols. Abroad, the Soviet Union was bent on mation of countless others, “the greatest economist changing the “correlation of forces” while the West of the 20th century.” Although his continuing influ- fruitlessly pursued a policy of détente. If this is Mil- ence is felt in the American government, where ton’s idea of victory, I asked myself, I wonder how House Majority Leader Dick Armey comments, he would define defeat? “One of the great privileges of this job is that I dare In retrospect, however, it is apparent that what call Milton Friedman friend. This is like a miracle Milton meant when he said that the economic bat- in my life,” Friedman’s influence has not ended at tle had been won was pretty much what Ronald America’s borders. Reagan meant when he said, some years later, that Throughout the world, Friedman has become the the statists “had had their turn at bat in the 1960s breathing, bespectacled example of how human and had struck out.” The fundamental flaw of stat- freedom can be advanced with academic integrity ism—its “fatal conceit,” Hayek called it—was its and articulate zeal. His direct influence can be traced arrogant conviction that policymakers could in places as diverse as Thatcher’s Britain, the Czech blithely disregard traditions that embodied the wis- page 2 No. 1266 November 29, 2006 WebMemo dom of generations, that they could impetuously We must not be afraid of the future. We must ignore customs whose purposes they didn’t under- not be afraid of man. It is no accident that we stand, and yet they could emerge from the inevita- are here. Each and every human person has ble disasters with their prestige intact and their been created in the “image and likeness” of ideas unchallenged…. the One who is the origin of all that is. We You know, the Keynesian economist and Nobel have within us the capacities for wisdom and Laureate Robert Solow once joked that the difference virtue. With these gifts, and with the help of between himself and Milton Friedman was that to God’s grace, we can build in the next century Milton everything always comes back to money, and the next millennium a civilization wor- whereas to Solow everything always comes back to thy of the human person, a true culture of sex. I think that to all of us here this evening, every- freedom. We can and must do so! And in do- thing always comes back to freedom. The issues we ing so, we shall see that the tears of this cen- consider are sometimes quite technical—devalua- tury have prepared the ground for a new tion, regionalism, and multilateralism in interna- springtime of the human spirit. tional trade, the pros and cons of a return to the Thank you all for joining us for this special cele- gold standard, privatization schemes, etc.—but the bration of the anniversary of the Society. And a spe- underlying theme informing all of our deliberations cial thank you to Milton. We all owe a tremendous is an abiding moral concern for the mind, the soul, debt of gratitude to you and the other founders of and the rights of the individual. That’s what unites our Society for making that first pilgrimage to Mont us.