Earlier this year a very clear example of Friedman’s legacy—and the impact of economic policies—was presented in the results of two earthquakes. The 7.0 Haitian earthquake on January 12th killed over 200,000 people. Just over a month later, the South American country of Chile was also hit by an 8.8 earthquake—500 times greater than the Haiti quake. But the loss of life was around 500 people.
So why the significant difference in loss of life? The Wall Street Journal published articles detailing how Chile implemented the economic free market policies proposed by Friedman in the 1970s. As a result, the nation flourished economically. It is now the richest nation in South America and it’s the 10th freest economy in the world. On the other hand, Haiti is one of the poorest nations on earth, and has poor governance that prevents economic prosperity. Nations with economic freedom and prosperity are better able to prepare for disasters such as an earthquake and build structures that can withstand such natural disasters. Ill-governed, poor nations that have little economic prosperity are left to the mercy of nature, such as was witnessed in Haiti. Government and economic policies have a direct impact on the safety and wellbeing of a nation.
Towards the end of his life, Friedman devoted himself to another great cause—school choice. Some have called it the civil rights issue of the 21st century. As a proponent of freedom of choice in the marketplace, Friedman understood that choice in education was crucial to providing students with their best chance for prosperity—personally and professionally.
Lance Izumi, the Koret senior fellow and senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, knew Friedman and this week he shared some thoughts on what he considered Friedman’s greatest legacy. “It’s ironic that you have this 90 year-old economist and his passion was for helping little kids. Children were the real motivating force for his policy views,” explained Izumi. “The fact there is a strong and energetic school choice movement shows his ideas will have legs. Friedman believed everybody—poor and wealthy—has the inherent right to have choice in how they educate their children. That’s why he supported universal voucher programs.”
As for Friedman’s relevance to today’s society, Izumi observed, “Friedman is more important than ever with Obama expanding the size of government. We need to go back to Friedman and remember what he said about the negative impact of taxes and big government and how it impacts society and reduces freedom. Obama has made Friedman more relevant.”
Indeed, it’s during times of great trials and turbulence that a society must look to the wisdom of the great leaders of its past to guide it through problems that were already faced by previous generations. During his life, Milton Friedman taught the world that freedom is worth fighting for, and through his work, he helped bring freedom to millions of people. That’s an enduring legacy.