The Friedman Prize
On May 15, Cato Institute will announce its biennial selection for the Milton Friedman prize for advancing liberty. Previous recipients include Hungarian-born Peter Bauer, Peruvian Hernando de Soto and Estonian Mart Laar.
The choice for the 2008 recipient is straightforward: select either a New Zealander or an East European. In the past 25 years, these are the only two places where economic liberty has been significantly advanced. The choices are: Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president; Leszek Balcerowicz, who just recently finished his term as president of the central bank in Poland; Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson, both former finance ministers in New Zealand.
Vaclav Klaus is the most successful politician in Eastern Europe since the Berlin Wall fell. He became minister of finance in 1990; prime minister in 1992; and president in 2003. He is a self-professed admirer of Hayek and Milton Friedman and led the two waves of mass privatization in Czechoslovakia.
Leszek Balcerowicz was also the first finance minister in his country, and on two occasions also the deputy prime minister. From 2000 to 2007 Balcerowicz was the central bank governor. His "shock therapy" plan to quell inflation was highly controversial at the time but resulted in the fastest economic growth in the following decade of any country in Eastern Europe. He has written several books advocating economic liberty.
Roger Douglas became New Zealand's minister of finance in 1984 and implemented far reaching reforms to liberalize the economy: cut subsidies and trade tariffs, and privatized many state assets. Ruth Richardson succeeded Douglas as minister of finance and passed liberal labor law as well as continued his conservative fiscal policies.
Who is most deserving of the Friedman prize among those four? They all are. My bet is on Balcerowicz.
Comments (2)
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Simeon, my bet is Vaclav Klaus. I have read his speech during the International Climate Change conference early this month in NY sponsored by the Heartland Institute. His theme was straightforward: the climate change alarmism is not about climatology but about new restrictions on individual liberty and the right to economic prosperity.
Posted by: Nonoy Oplas, Philippines | Mar 25, 2008 8:57:55 PM
To Nonoy:
Could be Klaus. If one looks at the ability to maintain political power and promote a liberal agenda, there is no one like Klaus. Note that the two New Zealanders managed a single term each.
Cato may alternatively decide to choose someone from another region - to broaden the appeal of the Friedman prize. Nor obvious to me who that can be.
Posted by: Simeon | Mar 26, 2008 3:47:15 PM