In this Uncommon Knowledge classic from February 10, 1999, Milton Friedman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1976 and a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution from 1977 to 2006, discusses, with Hoover research fellow Peter Robinson, what defines a libertarian and how Friedman balances the libertarians' desire for a small, less intrusive government with environmental, public safety, food and drug administration, and other issues.

How well are our leaders — including Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke — managing the aftermath of the financial crisis? . . .

John Taylor says it will be tragic if we forget all we learned over the past two-and-a-half decades about the importance of the private sector and the free market...

Paul Rahe, a professor at Hillsdale College, believes the country is going to hell in a hand basket. . . .

Before deciding what to do about the worst economic crisis in more than three decades, policymakers ought to have answered one question: What caused it?...

Thomas Sowell analyzes the recent housing boom and bust, beginning with the underlying economic causes that artificially inflated housing costs in certain markets.

John Cochrane explains how America should focus on growth, not economic redistribution.

Hoover fellow Milton Friedman talks with Hoover media fellow Peter Brimelow about inflation, currency values, and the Asian crisis. An end-of-the-century interview with one of the century’s great economists.

The financial crisis of 2008 devastated the American economy and caused U.S. policymakers to rethink their approaches to major financial crises. More than five years have passed since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, but questions still persist about the best ways to avoid and respond to future financial crises.