So I recently finished listening to an audiobook about the American economist Frank Knight, who lived from 1885 to 1972. It was just called “Frank Knight and the Chicago School” – and as its title suggests, it was partly about the Chicago school of economics. It was a good audiobook, which spoke about both the philosophical and economic aspects of Mr. Knight’s work. But it also covered some other economists who were prominent in the Chicago school of economic thought.
The Chicago school gets its name from the University of Chicago, the place where it was founded. It is generally remembered as a free-market school, although Frank Knight (the economist that they focus on most here) was something of a critic of capitalism. In fact, he was a critic of just about every economic system, including socialism and communism. Like the French philosopher Voltaire, he seems to have been better at attacking the ideas of others than he was at providing alternatives of his own. It is ironic that such a critic of capitalism would be remembered as one of the founders of a free-market group like the Chicago school. But he also had some sharp criticisms of socialism and communism, and parodied communism mercilessly in his lectures.
Milton Friedman
George Stigler
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was created in 1969, three years before Frank Knight’s death in 1972. Thus, he was only eligible for the prize for a three-year period, and did not receive it during his lifetime (or at all, for that matter). But three of his students actually did receive this coveted “Nobel Prize in Economics,” as it is more commonly called. These were Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and James M. Buchanan (not to be confused with President James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States). Milton Friedman is much more known for his monetarist work than he is for his participation in the Chicago school, so not all of his contributions are covered here. Rather, these contributions were saved for a later installment of this series, known as “Monetarism and Supply Side Economics” – with Milton Friedman being one of the foremost advocates of this “monetarism.” But this audiobook did cover George Stigler and James M. Buchanan in some depth, who were enthusiastic advocates of the free market – breaking with their famous teacher Frank Knight in this regard, and siding more with their other famous colleague Milton Friedman.
James M. Buchanan
Because of Frank Knight’s criticisms of capitalism, I didn’t really like his ideas as much as I thought I would. I assumed from his association with the Chicago school that he would be more sympathetic with the free market than he actually turned out to be. But I was much more sympathetic with the contributions of his three famous students that I have mentioned – which, again, were Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and James M. Buchanan. Even when I disagreed with Knight personally, I was glad for the opportunity to learn about him, and found his ideas interesting. I don’t believe that I have to agree with everything in his work, or even this presentation about his work, to find this presentation interesting. (Although I did appreciate their evaluation of Frank Knight and his work, and tended to agree with their assessment of him.)
See also:
Part of the audiobook series
Great Economic Thinkers
Frank Knight and the Chicago School
← Previous: Keynes and the Keynesian Revolution – Next: The Austrian Case for the Free Market Process →
See also the audiobook series
Secrets of the Great Investors
Others to be covered later
See also the audiobook series
The Giants of Political Thought
Others to be covered later
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