Friedman's work was based at Chicago University. His economic theories emphasised the link between the money supply and the rate of inflation. If the government prints more money to fund its projects, then inflation inevitably goes up
2.2 cutting
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2.2b FRIEDMAN CRITICIZES THATCHER
2.2c The Times, June 16, 1986
2.2d Caption
Friedman's theories formed the basis of the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher in Britain, and Ronald Reagan in the US. But Friedman's own study criticized the Thatcher administration for making only "limited" progress in tackling the growth of public spending
2.3 cutting
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2.3b THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MILTON
2.3c The Times, Feb 26, 1980
2.3d Caption
Friedman's theories were hailed by right-wing politicians in the Eighties, when many western economies went through a boom period. But even at the height of Friedman's influence, some critics felt his faith in market forces went too far
2.4 cutting
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2.4b WALL STREET'S BLACKEST HOUR
2.4c The Times, Oct 20, 1987
2.4d caption
The boom years on the stock exchanges ended dramatically in October 1987 when shares collapsed in unprecedented falls. The Dow Jones industrial average in New York fell by 22.9 per cent, nearly twice the fall that triggered the Great Crash of 1929
2.5 picture - headshot of Friedman add beeb headache material at this point
2.5b caption
The collapse of the stock markets took the gloss off Friedman's monetarist gospel, but the man himself still acted as a guru to many politicians. He warned that increasing money supply as a means to stimulate the economy would produce a worrying rise in inflation
NUGGETS
3.1 Vouchers for people to buy education and health services were among the measures proposed by Milton Friedman to tackle Britain's inflation problem in the late Seventies
3.2 Inflation was once declared by Friedman to be "the tax that never has to be passed by parliament" since the public would end up paying more money to the state
3.3 Friedman's policies were enthusiastically adopted in the post-communist states, Monetarist reformers in Russia were known as "the Chicago boys", after the university where Friedman developed his theories
3.4 Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 1976