This is a very, very sad loss for conservatives. I'll have more up about this great man in a bit. He was an inspiration.
I imagine he might like to be remembered this way. I give you the Power of the Market and the Parable of the Pencil:
The video quality on this one is bad, but the 4 Ways to Spend Money is a classic:
God bless him.
Update: Allah has another great video of the free-market man.
Update: "Milton Friedman on Corporate Conscience: The Musical" featuring the Milton Friedman Choir. Seriously!
Update: Andy Roth recommends "Capitalism and Freedom."
Update:
Statement from the Friedman Foundation:
Milton’s passion for freedom and liberty has influenced more lives than he ever could possibly know. His writings and ideas have transformed the minds of U.S. Presidents, world leaders, entrepreneurs and freshmen economic majors alike. The loss of his passion, incisive mind and dedication to freedom are all national treasures that we mourn for today.
Milton never chose to slow down; even at 94 he kept fighting to bring educational equality to all of America’s children. And it’s this vision, this drive for educational liberty that the Friedman Foundation will continue to bring to families throughout America.
“From a longer-term point of view, it’s his academic achievements which will have lasting import. But I would not dismiss the profound impact he has already had on the American public’s view.”
Mr. Greenspan said that Mr. Friedman came along at an opportune time. The Keynesian consensus among economists, which had worked well from the 1930s, could not explain the stagflation of the 1970s, he said.
Ben Bernanke:
“His thinking has so permeated modern macroeconomics that the worst pitfall in reading him today is to fail to appreciate the originality and even revolutionary character of his ideas,” said Ben S. Bernanke, now chairman of the Federal Reserve, in a speech honoring Mr. Friedman in 2003.
Read the whole NYT profile, and look out for kind words from Paul Krugman. True story!