Thursday, April 18, 2019

The FBI File on Milton Friedman, Part 3: Reagan Considers Him for a Position

Milton Friedman
In conjunction with the Freedom Of Information Act specialist Jerry Jordan, EconomicPolicyJournal.com requested the FBI file on Nobel prize-winning economist  Milton Friedman.  In total, the FBI supplied 239 pages of records.

Below is Part 3 and final part of the file. Part 3 largely consists of field reports of a 1981 background check done on Friedman apparently for some potential position in the then new Reagan Administration.

Cameo appearances are made by Ronald Coase, Armen Alchain, Arthur Burns and Anna Schwartz, all of whom in interviews vouch for Friedman's stellar character.

Perhaps the most robust reference came from the political scientist Edward Banfield who told the FBI that Friedman was the "greatest economist in the world" and that Friedman was the "least neurotic person he knew and probably the most stable."

He added that intellectually Friedman was a "dynamo."

Friedman and his wife Rose maintained a summer house at the time in Sea Ranch, California. A neighbour provided this assessment to the FBI:

"A very quiet, common, ordinary couple who spend their time gardening."





Also see:

The FBI File on Milton Friedman: Part 1

The FBI File on Milton Friedman, Part 2: Hayek Invites Friedman to Join the Mont Pelerin Society

-RW


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