Two lucky people: memoirs

Abstract

This is an autobiographical account of the lives and influence of economist Milton Friedman and his wife Rose, who sought to change intellectual opinion in the USA by their belief in personal freedom. It covers their involvement with world leaders and important public policy issues. Through their books and television programmes, and Milton's columns in Newsweek, the Friedmans' views have been influential, widely debated and gradually accepted. When Capitalism and Freedom was published in 1962, it was ignored by the national media. By contrast, Free to Choose, published the year Ronald Reagan was elected, became a bestseller. Together the Friedmans experienced many of the major events that have shaped the history of the modern world - from the Great Depression to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Milton Friedman served as unofficial adviser to Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and Presidents Nixon and Reagan. Apart from providing an account of two productive careers, the book is laced with entertaining details of life on the academic and ideological high wire.