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I realize that this essay is partly encomium, not a broad critique of Friedman, and I also realize that I am not the equal of Brad DeLong in my understanding of economics. Nevertheless, in the current climate of an often uncritical yet passionate libertarianism, it seems necessary to point out that libertarian freedom fails on many accounts to ensure fairness. While an individual with an aggressive temperament and an astute talent for bargaining can often prevail in a free market, there is no guarantee that same person will make a good citizen or a particularly welcome neighbor.
Friedman may well have had the nimble mind necessary to sidestep the inherent failures of libertarianism in forging a working society, but his work is often used as a bludgeon to dislodge the underpinnings of the commonwealth. He often seemed to be willing to sacrifice real people's interests for a constricted and merciless ideology, and our society is reeling from the blows it has taken in the name of the free trade he advocated.
Was Friedman as strong a humanitartian as he was an interlocutor? Did he love his fellows as much as his ideas? Did he leave the world better and not just more efficient at moving markets? These seem to be the questions that remain in assessing his accomplishments, and I would be very interested in knowing what the answers are.
