Slaves or Mercenaries: Milton Friedman and the Institution of the All-Volunteer Military

From an essay by John D. Singleton:

Milton Friedman was the leading public proponent for an all-volunteer military. This chapter traces his influence upon the national debate over conscription, which culminated in Friedman’s service on the Gates Commission. Friedman’s argument relied on economic reasoning and appeal to cost-benefit analysis. Central was his conjecture that the social cost of the draft, which imposed an “implicit tax” on draftees, exceeded that of the all-volunteer military. This was supported by the work of Walter Oi. Friedman’s position attracted support both within the conservative movement and from across the political landscape, allowing Friedman to form coalitions with prominent individuals otherwise in disagreement with his politics. With the social context ripened by the draft and the Vietnam War, Friedman’s argument echoed in influential circles, reaching policymakers in Washington and Martin Anderson on the Nixon advising team. The successful institution of the all-volunteer armed force reflected Friedman’s intellectual entrepreneurship.

What is especial about Friedman and Schwartz's "A Monetary History of the United States 1867 to 1960"?

A Monetary History of the United States 1867 to 1960 published in 1963 was written as part of an extensive NBER research project on Money and Business Cycles started in the 1950s. The project resulted in three more books and many important articles. A Monetary History was designed to provide historical evidence for the modern quantity theory of money. The principal lessons of the modern quantity theory of the long-run neutrality of money, the transitory effects of monetary policy on real economic activity, and the importance of stable money and of monetary rules have all been absorbed in modern macro models. A Monetary History, unlike the other books, has endured the test of time and has become a classic whose reputation has grown with age. It succeeded because it was based on narrative and not an explicit model. The narrative methodology pioneered by Friedman and Schwartz and the beautifully written story still captures the imaginations of new generations of economists.

That is from a new paper by Bordo & Rockoff (February 2013). 

Milton Friedman: His Influence in Economics and Politics

My colleague Julio Cole interviewed William Ruger, coauthor of the book Milton Friedman. Watch the interview here. 

The productivity of Milton Friedman

My colleague Julio Cole has compiled the most comprehensive Milton Friedman bibliography to date. 

Julio presented the analysis to the economics department at UFM. He called it "The Joys of Bibliography."

The objectives of Julio's analysis:

1) Supplement previous efforts with Friedman’s publications up to 2006. 

Milton Friedman died on November 16, 2006, and he was a productive scholar to the very end of his life. e.g., “Why Money Matters,” Wall Street Journal (Nov 17, 2006).

2) Correct errors and omissions in previous bibliographies: 

— Items missed
— Errors/omissions in titles, pagination, or volume information
— Other errors

Criteria—What to include? The present bibliography includes the following types of publications:

• Books authored, co-authored or edited by Milton Friedman 
• Introductions and forewords to books by other authors 
• Articles in scholarly and professional journals 
• Comments, notes, discussions and replies 
• Chapters in edited volumes 
• Articles in encyclopedias 
• Articles in general-interest magazines (e.g., Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly) 
• Book reviews 
• Published correspondence and interviews

Not included:

• Articles published in newspapers or in news magazines (e.g., Newsweek) 
• Speeches 
• Testimonies to congressional committees 
• Reprints (with some exceptions)

Friedman’s Scholarly Output, 1935-2006: 
Books 35
Articles and “other” 318

Total items: 353 (reprinted items are counted as one item)
Lifetime “batting average”: 4.9 original publications per year, over 72 years
(i.e., about one publication every 10.6 weeks – not counting newspapers!)

Journals with three or more Friedman publications: 

Journal of Political Economy 32
American Economic Review 22
Review of Economics and Statistics 8
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 7
Journal of the American Statistical Association 5
Quarterly Journal of Economics 3
Economic Journal 3
New Individualist Review 3
Journal of Law and Economics 3
The Public Interest 3
The Freeman 3
Contemporary Policy Issues 3
Cato Journal 3
Journal of Economic Perspectives 3

Friedman published in 67 different journals.  
Some other journals that published Friedman's articles:

Econometrica
Journal of Monetary Economics 
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
Journal of Farm Economics
(currently American Journal of Agricultural Economics)
Harper's Magazine
Atlantic Monthly
New York Times Magazine
Farm Policy Forum
Social Service Outlook
Scandinavian Journal of Economics
Australian Economic Papers
Bank of Japan Monetary and Economic Studies
Indian Economic Journal
Bank Markazi Iran Bulletin
Montana Business Quarterly
Liberian Economic and Management Review

See the complete bibliography here. Julio has also written several articles on Milton Friedman, see here and here.