1979, 1980 and the Age of Milton Friedman

In 1979, Deng Xiao Ping started market reforms in China, which over the quarter century liftedhundreds of millions of people out of poverty. In the same year, Margaret Thatcher waselected Prime Minister in Britain, and initiated her radical reforms and a long period ofgrowth. A year later, Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States, and alsoembraced free market policies.

All three of these leaders professed inspiration from thework of Milton Friedman. It is natural, then, to refer to the last quarter century as theAge of Milton Friedman.

Here is more from Harvard's Andrei Shleifer. HT to Dani Rodrik for the pointer.