Between 2008 and 2011, the Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics was an academic center established at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
as a collaborative, cross-disciplinary site for research in economics.
The Institute aimed to advance, refine, and share research that applied the tools of economic analysis to real-world issues. The institute was named in honor of former Chicago economics professor,
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
, who is widely recognized for his many enduring contributions to economic analysis. The institute was a collaboration of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Department of Economics, and Law School and fostered inquiry across a wide range of topics and subfields. The institute aimed to advance and preserve the unique University of Chicago economic tradition of combining theory and data in rigorous analysis–an approach exemplified by Friedman and others.
The Institute hosted visiting scholars working in subfields of economics, business, law, and related fields such as public policy and medicine. It hosted workshops, seminars, and lectures on fundamental questions across these fields. The Institute also supported advanced professional training for post-doctoral students, as well as expanded opportunities for University of Chicago graduate students. When announcing the creation of the institute in 2008, University President
Robert J. Zimmer
Robert Jeffrey Zimmer (born November 5, 1947) is an American mathematician and academic administrator. From 2006 until 2021, he served as the 13th president of the University of Chicago and as the Chair of the Board for Argonne National Lab, Ferm ...
said its goal was to create "a primary intellectual destination for economics by creating a robust forum for engagement of our faculty and students with scholars and policymakers from around the world.”
The university had initially planned to invest $200 million in the institute, with half of that in the form of an operating
endowment
Endowment most often refers to:
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It may also refer to: Finance
*Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment)
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; though the majority of funds were to be raised through donations.
The institute was an object of intense controversy at the university, as many faculty objected both to its objectives as originally framed and to the naming of an institute after Friedman, who was viewed as "polarizing". The announcement of the institute drew a response from more than 170 of the faculty at the university, who argued that to found such an institute would constitute "a symbolic endorsement of his views by the University" and that the proposal reflected "a very narrow research scope even within the field of economics, not to speak of the complete disregard for other disciplines involved in the study of 'economy and society'".
In June 2011, the institute and the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory were joined to form the new
Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics
The Gary Becker Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics is a collaborative, cross-disciplinary center for research in economics. The institute was established at the University of Chicago in June 2011. It brought together the activit ...
.
See also
*
Chicago Boys
The Chicago Boys were a group of Chilean economists prominent around the 1970s and 1980s, the majority of whom were educated at the Department of Economics of the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger, or at its affiliat ...
References
External links
Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economicsat the University of Chicago
Committee on Open Research in Economy and SocietyGroup opposing the Institute's founding
CORES at UChicagoupdated site of opposed faculty
Rifts develop within MFI committeeNews article about rifts within the committee
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Research institutes of the University of Chicago
Research institutes in Illinois
Economic research institutes