• DOI:10.1086/466628
• Corpus ID: 154308028

The Monetary Theory and Policy of Henry Simons

@article{Friedman1967TheMT,
  title={The Monetary Theory and Policy of Henry Simons},
  author={Milton Friedman},
  journal={The Journal of Law and Economics},
  year={1967},
  volume={10},
  pages={1 - 13}
}

• M. Friedman
• Published 1 October 1967
• Economics
• The Journal of Law and Economics

IT is a great honor for me to give the Henry Simons Lecture. He was my teacher and my friend-and above all, a shaper of my ideas. No man can say precisely whence his beliefs and his values come--but there is no doubt that mine would be very different than they are if I had not had the good fortune to be exposed to Henry Simons. If, in this lecture, I express much disagreement with him, that, too, bespeaks his influence. He taught us that an objective, critical examination of a man's ideas is a truer tribute than slavish repetition of his formulas. I am especially pleased to be giving this lecture under the auspices of the Law School. One of the unique advantages of the University of Chicago for economists has always been the close cooperation and interchange between economists and lawyers. Henry Simons was for many years on the Law School faculty, and Aaron Director and Ronald Coase have continued that fine tradition. The Journal of Law and Economics has set the seal on a happy affair. On re-reading Henry Simons' work in preparation for this lecture, I was struck by the contrast between my reaction to his discussion of monetary theory, on the one hand, and to his proposals for monetary reform, on the