Great Economist Milton Friedman Dies at 94

Nobel Prize-winning Economist Milton Friedman, son of an Austro-Hungarian Jewish family, died in San Francisco Thursday.

Friedman worked as economic adviser to presidents Nixon and Reagan, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science in 1988. He won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1976.

The core of Friedman’s work – that controlling the money supply is a major key to economic health – was embraced widely across the political spectrum.

Ambassador Simonyi spoke with Milton Friedman over the telephone a few weeks ago. They also talked about economics, the ambassador himself an economist, and a great admirer of Mr. Friedman. The influence of the great economist on the 20th Century is invaluable. Milton Friedman was proud of his Hungarian-Jewish heritage.