The economic situation in the United States today in many ways parallels the economic situation of the 1970’s. After the Vietnam War, the economic infrastructure was weakened and the situation became worse with the increase of political instability in the Middle East. At that point in time the Middle East had become the United States’ main source of oil. Due to the United States’ alliance with Israel, the Arab states enacted a trade embargo against the United States (to whom they primarily exported oil). This caused a major rise in gas prices throughout the country. (http://www.enotes.com/1970-business-economy-american-decades). Milton Friedman’s economic theories relate to this sort of inflation and its effects on the market and its buyers. In a time where prices are once again on the rise, Friedman’s theories are as pertinent as ever. The economic theories of Milton Friedman have as much merit today as they did in the 1970’s.
Milton Friedman was born in 1912 and attended public school in New Jersey. He graduated from high school in 1928 at the age of 16. He attended Rutgers University, where he had earned a scholarship, and specialized in mathematics. His interest later shifted to the science of economics. His influences in economics were his college professors, Arthur Burns and Homer Jones, who greatly expanded his knowledge in economics (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1976/friedman-autobio.html). Friedman then got a job at the University of Chicago as a professor of economics, where he taught for over 30 years.
Along with teaching, Friedman also took part in a series of research studies in various topics regarding economics within the country. In 1937, be assisted in a study on professional income at the National Bureau of Economic Research and jointly published Incomes from Independent Professional Practice with Simon Kuznets. The United States was still recovering economically from World War II. He later spent two...