This is volume 20 in the "Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers" series. The American Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics. An unofficial advisor to Ronald Reagan, he promoted a free market economy with little intervention from the government. His writings on public and economic policy emphasized the preservation and expansion of individual freedom and he was a strong opponent of the Keynesian economics. He is known for reviving interest in the quantity theory of money and was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1976. "Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers" provides comprehensive accounts of the works of seminal conservative thinkers from a variety of periods, disciplines, and traditions - the first series of its kind. Even the selection of thinkers adds another aspect to conservative thinking, including not only theorists but also writers and practitioners. The series comprises twenty volumes, each including an intellectual biography, historical context, critical exposition of the thinker's work, reception and influence, contemporary relevance, bibliography including references to electronic resources, and an index.

Author Biography

Dr Ruger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas State University-San Marcos. He is also a Research Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute and the Book Review Editor for Armed Forces and Society. Dr Meadowcroft is Lecturer in Public Policy at King's College London and the author of The Ethics of the Market (Palgrave, 2005) and co-author of Rescuing Social Capital from Social Democracy (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2007).