Milton Friedman, his theory and work.

Essay by Anonymous UserHigh School, 12th gradeA, March 1997

download word file, 4 pages 3.3

Milton Friedman is known as one of the top economists in the world. He has a Ph. D. from Columbia University, won a Noble Memorial Prize in economics and has also been awarded many honorary degrees by other Universities in the United States. As you can tell, Milton Friedman has played a significant part in helping to solve the economy problems of the world. You've probably heard all about his accomplishments and awards he has received, but what about how Milton Friedman played a very important role in helping us get into a huge national debt? This paper will discuss how Milton Friedman played a negative role in our economy.

When the Great Depression hit worldwide, it was up to the economists to explain it and to devise a cure for it. A person named John Maynard Keynes came up with an explanation to the economic slump that was so simple people did not think it would work.

Keynes explanation was something like this; in a normal economy, there is a high level of employment, and everyone is spending their earnings as usual. This means there is a circular flow of money in the economy, as my spending becomes part of your earnings, and your spending becomes part of my earnings. Suppose something happens to alter consumers confidence in the economy. Worried consumers may then try to weather the coming economic hardship by saving their money, but because my spending is part of your earnings, my decision to hoard money makes things worse for you and you, responding to your own difficult times, will start hoarding money too, making things even worse for me. So actually, everything is related. People hoard money in difficult times, but times become more difficult when people hoard money. That was basically how Keynes explained...