Books by Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (1912 – 2006) was an American economist who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. His books have been recommended on Five Books many many times.
He was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. He wrote on a wide variety of subjects and played a leading role—arguably the leading role—in overturning the Keynesian consensus that existed in the West from the end of the second world war to the 1960s. His work on inflation and unemployment and his advocacy of privatisation underpinned the economic programmes of the Reagan administration in the United States and the Thatcher government in the UK.
“What Milton Friedman did, both in his academic work on economic theory and history, monetary policy and so forth, and as a policy advocate deeply engaged in policy debates, was to take things and make them very, very easy to understand. And he was able to convince people of his argument by making those arguments very logically.” Lars Christensen
“Money Mischief is a wonderful book. It goes through episodes of monetary mistakes in history and, to a monetary policy nerd, it reads like beautiful literature…What Milton Friedman did, both in his academic work on economic theory and history, monetary policy and so forth, and as a policy advocate deeply engaged in policy debates was to take things and make them very, very easy to understand. And he was able to convince people of his argument by making those arguments very logically. And, in Money Mischief, you learn about all the thinking that went on behind Milton Friedman’s academic and policy work.” Read more...
The best books on Monetary Policy
Lars Christensen, Economist
“A Monetary History provides the story of the struggle over successive monetary regimes to get the monetary system right. It doesn’t get to the last part of the story, but it gets a lot of the story, at least from a US perspective.” Read more...
The best books on Monetary Policy
Lars Christensen, Economist
“It was the first book that I read with the idea that in order to have political freedom you have to have market freedom, economic freedom. That economic freedom drives people towards political freedom. I was living in a small town in the west – so this was like opening a window on a wider world. I did not live in a political household, so this is not the kind of book that I would read and be able to talk with my parents about. So it’s almost like samizdat literature. It was read in quiet, it was exhilarating, but very private.” Read more...
The best books on Compassionate Conservatism
Karl Rove, Political Commentator
“Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose: that book very much takes the view that what matters is the individual choice. The problems of people’s interactions with others can all be solved reasonably straightforwardly without any real interference with individual choice and so the best thing governments can do is back out and leave people alone to make their own choices.” Read more...
The best books on Learning Economics
John Quiggin, Economist
Interviews where books by Milton Friedman were recommended
The best books on Learning Economics, recommended by John Quiggin
We live in a society where it’s vital to have a good grasp of economics, but that doesn’t mean you need an economics degree to understand what it’s all about. Australian economist John Quiggin, author of Economics in Two Lessons, recommends books for learning about economics, all accessible to the general reader, and tries to dispel some of the myths about what it is professional economists do.
The best books on Tea Party Conservatism, recommended by Grover Norquist
The leading Conservative strategist and Head of Americans for Tax Reform argues that liberals actively undermine what makes America great. He chooses five books to better understand conservative America
The best books on How Libertarians Can Govern, recommended by Mitch Daniels
The Governor of Indiana promotes a new philosophy of libertarianism and selects the books that have influenced him most.
The best books on Compassionate Conservatism, recommended by Karl Rove
Karl Rove recommends five historical works that define, for him, the essence of American Conservatism.
-
1
Monetary Policy, Inflation, and the Business Cycle: An Introduction to the New Keynesian Framework and its Applications
by Jordi Gali -
2
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
3
Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience
by Adam S. Posen, Ben Bernanke, Frederic S. Mishkin & Thomas Laubach -
4
A Monetary and Fiscal History of Latin America, 1960–2017
by Juan Pablo Nicolini & Timothy J. Kehoe -
5
The Conquest of American Inflation
by Thomas J. Sargent
The best books on Inflation, recommended by Federica Romei
The best books on Inflation, recommended by Federica Romei
Inflation has been under control in the developed world for decades now. Many assumed we had it beaten, but it has picked up recently and is once again a major policy concern. Here, Oxford economist Federica Romei chooses five books to help you understand inflation from a historical and theoretical perspective, and when, if and why you should worry about it.
-
1
Fluttering Veil: Essays on Monetary Disequilibrium
by Leland Yeager -
2
Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History
by Milton Friedman -
3
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
4
The Midas Paradox: Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks and the Great Depression
by Scott B. Sumner -
5
The Great Recession: Market Failure or Policy Failure?
by Robert L. Hetzel
The best books on Monetary Policy, recommended by Lars Christensen
The best books on Monetary Policy, recommended by Lars Christensen
Monetary policy isn’t just about setting interest rates and if we think about it in those terms, we’ll never really understand it, says Danish economist Lars Christensen. Here, he recommends books to better understand monetary policy, and explains why reading about the past is so important for avoiding mistakes in the future.
-
1
Free Trade Under Fire
by Douglas A Irwin -
2
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
3
The Liquidation of Government Debt (Economic Policy, Volume 30, Issue 82, April 2015)
by Carmen Reinhart & M. Belen Sbrancia -
4
The Great Reversal: How America Gave up on Free Markets
by Thomas Philippon -
5
Hard Head, Soft Hearts: Tough-minded Economics for a Just Society
by Alan S Blinder
The Economics of Coronavirus: A Reading List, recommended by Ricardo Reis
The Economics of Coronavirus: A Reading List, recommended by Ricardo Reis
As we deal with the economic fallout of coronavirus, what lessons can economic theory and economic history teach us as we navigate the months ahead? Ricardo Reis, professor of economics at the London School of Economics—and consultant to both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve—recommends four books and one article to help us think through the economic challenges posed by Covid-19.
-
1
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
2
Macroeconomic Effects from Government Purchases and Taxes
by Robert Barro -
3
Identifying Government Spending Shocks
by Valerie Ramey -
4
Essays on the Great Depression
by Ben Bernanke -
5
The Great Depression in the United States from a Neoclassical Perspective
by Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian
The best books on The Lessons of the Great Depression, recommended by Robert Barro
The best books on The Lessons of the Great Depression, recommended by Robert Barro
Harvard macroeconomist Robert Barro takes issue with some common assumptions about the Great Depression, and how America got out of it.
The best books on Learning from the Great Depression, recommended by Christina Romer
The former chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers says we’ve learned that terrible downturns can still occur, but also that the right policy response can make a huge difference to the outcome
David Frum recommends five Pioneering Conservative Books
The CNN columnist and former speechwriter for George W Bush, David Frum, recommends five conservative books that transformed the way we think about fundamental problems.