2007 Milton Friedman Seminar

Twenty-eight students from across the nation traveled to Young America’s Foundation Reagan Ranch Center to enjoy a three-day seminar on the life, accomplishments, and innovative philosophies of Nobel Prize winning economist, Dr. Milton Friedman. The program was part of the Foundation’s Road to Freedom seminars which feature detailed discussion on the individuals that Ronald Reagan considered the key intellectual leaders of the Conservative Movement: Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, Henry Hazlitt, James Burnham, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman.

Students at this seminar learned about Dr. Friedman’s economic principles from a variety of experts including Friedman biographer Alan Ebenstein; close friend of Friedman and conservative economics fellow at UC Berkeley Konstantin Magin; the Hoover Institution’s Dr. David Henderson; Westmont economics professor and frequent Foundation lecturer Dr. David Newton; and Hillsdale College professor and Foundation alumnus Dr. Ivan Pongracic who oversaw the weekend’s activities.

Lecture topics included Friedman’s challenge and defeat of Keynesian economic theory, the role and importance of character in economic theory, and Friedman’s influence on national and international public policy. In addition, students fully questioned, challenged, and inquired about a number of issues during a series of small discussion groups with seminar faculty.

The young leaders attending this Road to Freedom seminar left with a profound appreciation for Dr. Milton Friedman, President Reagan, and the free-market ideas they advocated. They returned to their campuses motivated and inspired to share the philosophies of Milton Friedman with their peers and professors.

Young America’s Foundation sincerely thanks Don and Bea Penniall for their generous support of this Road to Freedom seminar. Their sponsorship of this program allows Young America’s Foundation to motivate and enlighten the future leaders of our nation with the free-market ideas President Reagan and Dr. Friedman so-cherished.