Milton Freedman is one of the divisive economists of economics in France today. A great figure of neoliberalism, read aloud in his views on monetaryism, taxation, privatization and the direct motivation of economic policies undertaken by Ronald Reagan in the United Nations, Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Augusto Pinochet in Chile. But also by Mart Lar in Estonia, Davis Odson in Iceland and Brian Mulroney in Canada.

If Freedman is far from being the only economist who has invested himself politically, his commitment is one of the most salient points of his personality. What is the similarity between its economic performances and its political activism, from scientific to political, to return to the core of its philosophy and central concept of freedom? Between biographical implications, scientific implications, and empirical evidence, his theories structure a vision of the world in which markets are both efficient and impartial: two reasons that push them to protect the preservation of markets.

If one cannot separate Freedman’s “positive” beliefs from his “political” convictions, then how can we understand the belief system in which his neoliberal ideology and his economic principles were forged? How was it economic liberalism that shaped his vision of building the world? To talk about Freedman and his work, we invited Beretris cherier, Economic Historian, CNRS and CREST Researcher, Assistant Professor at Ecole Polytechnic.