For us, who lived in the communist world, Milton Friedman was
the greatest champion of freedom, of limited and unobtrusive
government and of free markets. Because of him I became a true
believer in the unrestricted market economy. Those are the words
of Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Both Friedman’s writings and
his landmark 1980 documentary series “Free to Choose” were
smuggled into totalitarian communist states, inspiring a
generation of future scholars, activists, and politicians. July
31st, 2012 is the 100th anniversary of Friedman’s birth. To
commemorate that occasion, the Cato Institute has put together a
video interview with Bob Chitester, producer of “Free to
Choose,” recounting how it came to be, its impact, and what it
was like working with Milton Friedman. Aside from those who
lived under communism, there is another group for whom Friedman
was and is a colossal figure: advocates of educational freedom.
At a time when state-run schooling had been the norm for nearly
a century, and had long ceased to