Sam Peltzman speaks of Friedman as his professor and colleague. Another such colleague was Leo Melamed. Here in a 2007 program they recall Friedman as friend, as innovative contributor to the transformation of American economics and, basically, as the “guy who got it right.”

But economics is probably the most important, or most influential, of the academic social disciplines One practitioner, who is widely expected to become a Nobel Laureate, is Sam Peltzman of the University of Chicago. He joins us to explain the “Peltzman Effect” and, among many other things, how and where the present administration went wrong.

That was the task brilliantly performed by Nobel Laureate Gary Becker, recently deceased at 83. This wide-ranging conversation with him was conducted in 2005.

If states are laboratories, the lesson from Illinois is “Don’t do this, ever!” Kristina Rasmussen of the Illinois Policy Institute expounds on how to make a mess – and a continuing tragedy – through government  programs.

From 2007, Milt talks with humorist P.J. O’Rourke on his great book looking at the works of economist Adam Smith.