Friedman's Folly (O.K. It's pretty minor, considering!)

Lots of good stuff is being/has been written about Milton Friedman in various obits and tributes the last few days. I've only gradually become aware of Friedman and his significance in the last few years, as my interest in economics and libertarian thought has grown, but needless to say, he was by all accounts a giant. Since I don't have too much to add, what prompted this post was a near-footnote at the end of this nice obit from Newsweek, which indicates that Friedman, of all people, appears to have been the author, or at least a major advocate, of the "starve the beast" meme (i.e. that cutting taxes will force the government to cut spending, eventually) which I mocked rather mercilessly in this space not long ago.

Whoa! If someone with as much wattage as Friedman backed the idea, maybe it wasn't completely foolish, even if it turned out to be wrong in the event... nah! Sorry, I for one, still can't quite buy it. Maybe I'll run across (or look up) Friedman's detailed argument, but for now, I strongly lean toward seeing it as another example proving that even clearly brilliant people can on exceptional occasions be spectacularly foolish (see also Clinton, William J.). If such bright lights can be so unexpectedly dim, this should be a serious caution to the rest of us!