Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy

One of the aspects of Milton Friedman’s work which won him the Nobel Prize was “his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy.” We consider the question of what that meant, suggesting that his early 1950s “formal analysis” of the effects of full-employment policy was his most important...

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Main Authors: Forder, J, Monnery, H
Format: Journal article
Published: Econ Journal Watch 2019
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author Forder, J
Monnery, H
author_facet Forder, J
Monnery, H
author_sort Forder, J
collection OXFORD
description One of the aspects of Milton Friedman’s work which won him the Nobel Prize was “his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy.” We consider the question of what that meant, suggesting that his early 1950s “formal analysis” of the effects of full-employment policy was his most important contribution in the area. We address the question of the relation of that piece to his other thinking, particularly on the length and variability of lags in the economic system. Since 1976 the “formal analysis” has been relatively little noted, and we suggest that the prominence given to stories about the Phillips curve are part of the reason, and that another part is that in making the case for policy rules Friedman himself downplayed the formal aspect of his thinking in favour of a more ad hoc empirical one.
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spelling oxford-uuid:3457f161-4ef7-44d2-8d36-1c17a4b651682022-03-26T13:25:22ZWhy did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policyJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:3457f161-4ef7-44d2-8d36-1c17a4b65168Symplectic Elements at OxfordEcon Journal Watch2019Forder, JMonnery, HOne of the aspects of Milton Friedman’s work which won him the Nobel Prize was “his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy.” We consider the question of what that meant, suggesting that his early 1950s “formal analysis” of the effects of full-employment policy was his most important contribution in the area. We address the question of the relation of that piece to his other thinking, particularly on the length and variability of lags in the economic system. Since 1976 the “formal analysis” has been relatively little noted, and we suggest that the prominence given to stories about the Phillips curve are part of the reason, and that another part is that in making the case for policy rules Friedman himself downplayed the formal aspect of his thinking in favour of a more ad hoc empirical one.
spellingShingle Forder, J
Monnery, H
Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
title Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
title_full Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
title_fullStr Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
title_full_unstemmed Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
title_short Why did Milton Friedman win the Nobel Prize? a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
title_sort why did milton friedman win the nobel prize a consideration of his early work on stabilization policy
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