Milton Friedman was a Nobel Prize recipient and an economics professor at the University of Chicago. He wrote Capitalism and Freedom in 1962, with the help of his wife, Rose, a fellow economist. In addition to being an argument for liberal ideas about the free market, the book is an expression of Friedman’s concern about the expanding role of government, the growth of the welfare state, and the rising prominence of Keynesian economic perspectives. Though Capitalism and Freedom doesn’t have characters like those in a work of fiction, Friedman goes to great lengths to share his arguments in an organized, believable, and persuasive manner. He also tries to present himself in a likeable way, perhaps to make himself as persuasive as possible. Friedman makes his prose accessible, his tone respectful (for the most part), and his arguments as intellectual as they are ideological.

The arguments Friedman puts forth in Capitalism and Freedom have been both persuasive and influential, especially among conservatives and libertarians. These ideas are often credited with shifting public opinion toward support of free-market capitalism. Friedman remarks on this change in attitudes in his 1982 Preface to the book. He doesn’t identify himself as the catalyst, though.