Modern Era
Milton Friedman
1912–2006 · Free-market economics
Spend someone else's money and you will never spend it well.
In their words
“Freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood.”
Friedman moved the argument for markets from the seminar room to television, using plain examples about whose money is being spent. His Capitalism and Freedom made the case for economic freedom as a precondition of political freedom, for voluntary military service and school choice, and against occupational licensing. He acknowledged that his proposals were radical, and then made them respectable.
Why it matters for freedom
He made the case that competitive markets disperse power, and dispersed power is what liberty is made of.
Who they stood against
the regulators and the assumption that officials know better how to spend your money