Sorry, Senator Paul: he is not risen
Pure genius from presumed presidential contender and devotee of Austrian school economics, Sen. Rand Paul:
Who would your ideal Fed chairman be?
Hayek would be good, but he’s deceased.
Nondead Fed chairman.
Friedman would probably be pretty good, too, and he’s not an Austrian, but he would be better than what we have.
Dead, too.
Yeah. Let’s just go with dead, because then you probably really wouldn’t have much of a functioning Federal Reserve.
Milton Friedman, of course, was one of the pioneers and foremost proponents of the laissez-faire economic theory collectively known as the Chicago School. According to Friedman's
biography at the website of the CATO institute, Friedman passed away in November of 2006.
For such a devotee of the neoclassical Austrian/Chicago economic theory as Sen. Rand Paul purports to be, the passing of Milton Friedman would have been as the passing of Ronald Reagan to a prominent Republican politician. It would be the passing of an icon, something not easily forgotten. Yet somehow, Sen. Paul let that minor detail slip from his brain. And we haven't even gotten into the part where if Friedman were alive, he would have recently celebrated his 101st birthday. Or the fact that Friedman thought that Chile under Pinochet was a "miracle."
All minor details in the long run.
Sign our petition requesting that President Obama not appoint Larry Summers as Federal Reserve chair, and consider instead appointing a more qualified woman, such as Deputy Chair Janet Yellen.