Tribute to Milton and Rose Friedman
by Leo Melamed

Cato Institute Milton Friedman Prize Dinner
Washington Hilton
May 13, 2010

On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and uttered the words heard around the world, "Mr. Gorbachev," he said, "tear down this wall." Two years later, on November 9, 1989, hundreds of thousands of East Germans began pouring with impunity through the Berlin Wall. The unbelievable had occurred without a shot being fired. The Berlin wall had fallen. The unification of Germany was at hand.

Two months later, a continent away, on February 18, 1990, something transpired that South African blacks had spent 27 years praying for and South African whites dreaded. On that day, Nelson Mandela emerged from the prison gates at the Victor Verster Prison, raised both fists in the air, and walked out a free man. The abolishment of Apartheid was imminent.

At almost the same moment but again a continent away, something equally shocking was unfolding. It was May 1, 1990 and the traditional May Day celebration was in progress in Moscow's Red Square. There were the usual pomp and circumstance - banners and marches and songs. The colors on the banner were correct --- yellow letters on a deep red background --- but something was dramatically different. The message on the banner was astounding: "Communists," it read, "have no illusions --- you are bankrupt," The disintegration of the communist empire had begun.

Those of us, citizens of planet Earth, fortunate enough to be present at the latter end of the twentieth century, were privileged to have witnessed some of these monumental events --- events that altered the direction of mankind. In what seemed like a made for TV video, we were ring-side spectators at a near-global insurrection that unshackled the chains of political and economic systems that had enslaved a full third of the world population. In less than an eye-blink, an ideology whose doctrines caused freedoms of three generations to be confiscated, economies of scores of nations to be disabled, and the destiny of the entire planet misdirected for seven decades dissolved before our eyes.

That was only twenty years ago.

Surely, these revolutions did not occur by virtue of a random spark. Surely, the underground fire that ultimately torched the forces of tyranny took years to ignite. Indeed, the roots of the revolutions can be found in the merciless suppression of liberty, in the denial of fundamental human rights born to everyone, and in the quintessential truth that a market driven economic order will ultimately crush one that is based on command economics.

But just as clearly, the revolutions of the 1990s contained one defining common denominator - the doctrine of individual freedom - espoused by one man above all others! That man was Milton Friedman.

Looking back, the fact that one individual could be so instrumental in influencing the entire world is difficult to explain. Yet, it is so. Milton Friedman changed the course of civilization --- a truth nearly universally embraced. It is a truth underscored in the introductory video you are about to see. Or to put it as Gary Becker explained: Milton Friedman's market-driven ideals lifted a billion people out of poverty since 1990.

But perhaps the best assessment of Milton Friedman's influence in the world comes from Vaclav Klaus:

Reading and studying Milton Friedman's works helped me and many of us to understand economic reality, to understand economics, to understand its methodology, the role of the market in society, the role of the state in a free market economy, the role of money in the economy. Surely there were other influential authors but there was no one comparable in intellectual and human integrity, in the firmness of stances and attitudes, in innovative boldness, in simplicity and clarity of exposition and in the scope and quality of important contributions both to economic theory and the theory of public policy.

Remember the legendary PBS series Free to Choose? Who but Milton and Rose Friedman could speak to nearly the entire globe about the value of freedom in a language and with a logic everyone could understand? Who but the Friedmans could explain that "the most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit?" Or in the words of Thomas G. Donlan, Barron's Editorial Page Editor: That "the best thing about economics is the free market, and the best thing about the free market is freedom."

And of special significance to Americans, Milton and Rose Friedman taught us that more than any other nation on this planet, we Americans are free to think, to experiment, to innovate. And that this was no accident. As they explained, the story of the United States is a story of two interdependent miracles: an economic miracle and a political miracle. One, embodied in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which established that an economic system could succeed only in an environment which allowed the freedom of individuals to pursue their own objectives. The second, drafted by Thomas Jefferson for The Declaration of Independence which proclaimed the entitlement of some self-evident truths such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Indeed, the revolutions of the 1990s were a magnificent triumph of democracy and freedom. A majestic tribute to Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Adam Smith and, oh yes, Milton Friedman.

Appropriately, this Cato Prize is not named for Milton Friedman because he was the most influential economist of the twentieth century;
Nor is this Cato Prize named for Milton Friedman because more than anyone in the twentieth century he stood for free markets;
This Cato Prize is named for Milton Friedman because he devoted his life toward the advancement of human liberty.

Allow me to conclude with Milton Friedman's sacred admonition:

"The challenge for my generation," said the great man, "was to provide an intellectual defense of liberty....The challenge for your generation is to keep it."

Thank you!

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