Liberal Univ. of Chicago professors protesting research center named for Milton Friedman

Sixty years after leaving the Big 10 Conference, the University of Chicago has a narrow athletic trophy case, but it has won plenty of Nobel Prizes. Three Nobel-winners stand out from that crowded field: Manhattan Project physicist Enrico Fermi, author Saul Bellow, and economist Milton Friedman, who passed away two years ago.

Here's what Wikipedia says about Friedman:

According to The Economist, Friedman "was the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century…possibly of all of it". Former Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan stated, "There are very few people over the generations who have ideas that are sufficiently original to materially alter the direction of civilization. Milton is one of those very few people."

In his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom Friedman advocated minimizing the role of government in a free market as a means of creating political and social freedom. In his 1980 television series Free to Choose, Friedman explained his view of how free markets work, emphasizing his conviction that free markets have been shown to solve social and political problems that other systems have failed to address adequately. His books and columns for Newsweek were widely read and even circulated underground behind the Iron Curtain.

Truly a monumentally positive force for society. But some liberal professors, 101 of them--eight percent of the faculty--are against the creation of research center named for Friedman at the University of Chicago. Thankfully, administration officials are standing firm. AP has more:

History of religions professor Bruce Lincoln is calling the proposed research center a right-wing think tank. He says the university's reputation will take a serious rightward turn as a result.

Professor Lincoln is a mental midget. It was the adaptation of Friedman's economic philosophies by Ronald Reagan that put us on the economic growth boom, with just a couple of bumps, that we enjoy today. Taking it one step further, perhaps the professor wouldn't have a job today were it not for Friedman--tuition at the University of Chicago is very expensive--money doesn't grow on trees, not even in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.

Oh, Barack Obama is a former part-time professor at the U of C; Michelle Obama is the former vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Hat tip to Say Anything Blog.

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