Recalling Milton Friedman When We Need Him More Than Ever

These days, I'm probably not alone in missing the recently deceased economist Milton Friedman.

With so much seeming to go wrong in our economy, his voice of calmness, stability and personal responsibility is sorely missed.

For example, Friedman would have clucked at Alan Greenspan's ill-advised pumping of the money supply early in this decade, as well as the seemingly ad hoc flooding of more money via ever-lower rates under Bernanke for the past 15 months.

Instead, Milton would have counseled a steady growth in money supply at an automatic rate. This would have mitigated much of the housing boom excess and, thus, probably indirectly avoided the consequent real estate and mortgage-backed structured finance market collapses.

Along with his co-author, Anna Schwartz, it's quite likely Friedman would have correctly noted that liquidity was not the problem in our economy for the past year and a half. Rather, it was bank asset quality and solvency.

Finally, the Nobel laureate would doubtless have publicized the flaws in thinking behind the latest trillion-dollar "stimulus" package. Having close acquaintance with the economic facts of the Great Depression, Friedman would have argued for permanent tax cuts to affect the permanent incomes of taxpayers, rather than excessive government spending and temporary fiddling with tax rebates.

Further, he would have continued to champion government actions promoting individual freedoms, rather than mega-spending programs drawing even more power to politicians, and away from average citizens.

Maybe somebody can channel his spirit, pending his reincarnation.