Friedman and Schwartz on monetary trends in the USA and UK from 1867 to 1975: a first assessment

Abstract

The work examines Monetary Trends, the third in a series of volumes published over the last twenty years by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz under the auspices of the NBER. Due to the limited scope of the article, the author pivots the discussion on two questions which appear to be crucial and which Friedman’s previous works have not succeeded in dissipating legitimate doubts. The first is Friedman’s view regarding the absence of theoretical divisions between “good” monetarists and Keynesians, and the second is the ability of tests to play a crucial part in the choice between conflicting theories. The author deals with the presentation and discussion of the core of the theory and of the additional propositions before examining if their predictions conform to empirical evidence. JEL: B31, E42

Keywords

• Milton Friedman
• Anna Schwartz
• monetarist
• Keynesian
• U.S
• U.K.