Milton Friedman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1912 and grew up in New Jersey. He studied at Rutgers University and the University of Chicago before earning a doctorate at Columbia University. After working in government and economic research, he joined the University of Chicago in 1946. He became a leading figure in the Chicago school of economics and helped establish monetarism as an influential approach to economic policy.

Friedman studied consumption, monetary policy and inflation. His 1963 book A Monetary History of the United States, co-written with Anna Jacobson Schwartz, examined the role of monetary policy in the Great Depression. In 1976, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the study of stabilisation policy.

Beyond academia, Friedman advocated free markets, individual choice and limited government intervention. His books Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose brought economic ideas to wider audiences. His arguments influenced economic policy debates internationally, although aspects of his approach remained contested.