Hayek Vs Friedman Analysis

Friedrich Hayek, an economist primarily working in the early to middle 1900s, focused primarily on many different economic topics and played an important role in the government's politics, influencing many economists viewpoints for years to come. Later on in his career, one of the economists he influenced, Milton Friedman arose to fame with his own economic theories partially based off of Friedrich Hayek’s theories. Although Friedman was influenced by Hayek, both economists have since diverged on many different economic topics, analyzing different types of data and creating their own theories. Both economists have played an important role in politics, the economy during different hardships in this country’s history, and creating many different …show more content…
Friedman was strongly against the concept of Keynesian Economics, brought up by Keynes, primarily discussing theories focused in the short term, especially during recessions, when the economic output is strongly influenced by aggregate demands. Friedman was more focused on the long term effects and helping the citizens of the country as much as possible. Friedman was for monetarism, stressing its importance to keep the economy going. Monetarism is the concept that the government should control the amount of money in circulation, creating a steady flow of the money supply, helping the national output of goods and …show more content…
Hayek strongly promoted government regulation, stating that it strongly benefits the economy and the nation’s citizens. In some ways, government regulation benefits citizens by creating safe working conditions, safe foods and water, mandating work hours for working class citizens, and overall making sure that the citizens have a safe and clean life. Friedman, on the other hand, states that government regulation has downsides that can harm the economy and the nation's citizens. For example, he argued that doctors should be able to practice without government licensing, specific acts like prostitution should be legal, and agencies like the FDA should be able to share any information the choose, without the worry of backlash from the government. Afterall, Friedman tended to have strong libertarian viewpoints, which depict that the government should let citizens make their own decisions based on the information offered, without the government stepping in to lay down restrictions. Either way, both Friedman and Hayek’s ideology and theories are found today throughout the structure of our current economy, helping to benefit this country and its