About the archive

Milton Friedman spent fifty years explaining how free people coordinate without being directed, and he did it in plain language that anyone could follow. Most of that material is scattered across out-of-print columns, broadcast footage, and academic journals. Ask the internet what he said about tariffs and you get a meme with no citation.

This archive is the other thing. 329 passages so far, each with the work it came from, the year, the page or timestamp where available, and a link to where you can read or watch it yourself. When the wording has been checked against the source, the page says so. When it has not, the page says that too.

What it is for

So that a person who wants to know what Friedman taught can find it, in his words, and verify it. Not a shrine, and not a meme factory. The test of every feature is whether it helps someone find what he actually said and check it.

What it will not do

It will not put words in his mouth. No generated paraphrase, no answer composed in his voice, no claim about what he would say about something that happened after he died on November 16, 2006. When the archive has nothing on point, it says so. That restraint is the product.

Independence and funding

The archive is independent and is not affiliated with the Friedman family, the Hoover Institution, or the Free To Choose Network. Where sponsorship appears, common ownership is disclosed on the page. His name is not used to sell anything.

Help improve it

The fastest way to make this better is to tell us what is wrong or missing.Report a correction, or readhow the archive decides what to publish.