Two Lucky People: Memoirs

Milton Friedman needs no introduction, so let me just talk about the book. In this book, you almost get a comprehensive account of the life of Milton and Rose. But this book is about so many other things. I cannot possibly cover everything that this book covers, so let me tell you about one part of the book that has helped me--it's the part where Milton talks about learning and teaching economics. I'm an undergraduate planning to major in economics and political science. (Milton Friedman actually got me interested in economics & politics through his book Free to Choose.) But when I first started taking economics courses, it was... a little bit dull, if I may say so. I didn't know how all these supply and demand curves were supposed to help me understand the world. But I've checked out this Memoirs from the library, and Milton is talking about his years as a student. He talks about the courses that he took at the University of Chicago, and especially "Economics 301: Price and Distribution Theory," which he took with Rose (that's when they first met), and which he taught at Chicago. When he took the course, he understood that "economic theory was a coherent set of tools, to be used with care and the utmost attention to logical rigor, but to be judged primarily by its usefulness in understanding and interpreting important economic events" (35). Just by reading this quote, I'm starting to understand what economics is about. So Milton Friedman got me into economics, made me passionate about it, and helped me make sense of it. Milton Friedman was so many things, but what a brilliant teacher he was.

This is a great book for anyone who is interested in Milton Friedman, economics, The University of Chicago, twentieth-century intellectual history, university politics, or rags-to-riches stories. Both authors have led very interesting lives and the tone throughout the book is upbeat and positive. This is one of the best and most-influential books I have ever read. Milton Friedman is one of the most clear-thinking, intelligent people of the twentieth-century and our country would be better off if more of his ideas on economics, education, and freedom were put into practice.

Milton Friedman is one the of tough guy who always support the free market idea.He is the first guy who builds the monetary school and also a good story teller.He does do a great job and I guess that is not just luck.

The memoirs extend from the Friedmans' early years to 1997. The earliest times are recounted in separate voices by Rose and Milton, each telling her or his own story seriatim. For the later years, their narrative voices are presented sometimes jointly and sometimes in tandem. This method adds a great deal to the readability and interest of their story. It allows the reader to get different impressions of the same people and places and brings out the (rare) disagreements between the two authors. It provides more information and presents a more vivid picture than is typically the case in memoirs by a single author....To read "Two Lucky People" is to get on intimate terms with a wholly delightful and wholly admirable couple. Here is a book to savor. Instructive and endlessly entertaining, it brings to life a whole era from the Great Depression to the present day.

I'm indebted to the review by Thomas Sowell in the July 6 issue of Forbes Magazine (Forbes.com) This book has history, sociology, romance, economics, faith, good stories and more.