David Friedman

Published May 06, 2011 in Celebrities by Zach Varnell

David Friedman (b. 1945) is the leading advocate of life without any government interference. He's an amiable man, a formidable debater and a writer who's a pleasure to read. He earned his B.A. at Harvard University, his M.S. and Ph.D. (both in physics) at the University of Chicago. After stints teaching at the University of Chicago Law School, Cornell Law School and UCLA Department of Economics, among other places, he currently teaches law and economics at Santa Clara Unviersity in California.

He is best-known for The Machinery of Freedom: A Guide to Radical Capitalism, originally published as a Harper & Row mass market paperback in 1971, then issued as a hardcover by Arlington House in 1978 and by Open Court in 1989. It's a charming yet rigorous classic on liberty which keeps coming back. It has been translated into French and Italian.

Friedman's other books include Price Theory: An Intermediate Text (1993), Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life (1996), Law's Order (2000), and his latest book Harald (2006). He has contributed chapters to 15 books including The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economic Theory and Doctrine (1987) and The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics (1993). His articles have appeared in American Economic Review, Bell Journal, History of Political Economy, International Review of Law and Economics, Journal of Economic Perspectives, The Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Legal Studies, Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Law School Roundtable, Public Choice and Liberty, among other publications.

Reprinted with permission from Laissez Faire Books