View source for David D. Friedman

{{short description|American academic (born 1945)}}
{{Other people||David Friedman (disambiguation){{!}}David Friedman}}
{{Independent sources|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox economist
| name = David D. Friedman
| school_tradition = [[Chicago school of economics]]<ref name="machinery">{{cite web|url=http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf |title=The Machinery of Freedom |page=124 |access-date=25 November 2012 |quote=Much is made in libertarian circles of the division between 'Austrian' and 'Chicago' schools of economic theory, largely by people who understand neither. I am classified as 'Chicago'. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217064037/http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2013 }}</ref>
| image = David Friedman by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| birth_name=David Director Friedman
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|2|12}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = 
| spouse =  Elizabeth Cook
| children = [[Patri Friedman]]
| institution = [[Santa Clara University]]
| field = [[Economics]], [[law]]
| influences = [[Ronald Coase]], [[Friedrich Hayek]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Milton Friedman]], [[Rose Friedman]], [[Adam Smith]], [[Richard Timberlake]], [[Alfred Marshall]], [[Murray Rothbard]]
| contributions = ''[[The Machinery of Freedom]]''<br>[[Consequentialist libertarianism]]
| awards =
| signature = <!-- file name only -->
| repec_prefix =e | repec_id = pfr16
| module = {{Listen |embed= yes |filename= Dr_David_D_Friedman_Socialism_Vs_Capitalism.ogg |title= Friedman's voice |type= speech |description= On [[capitalism]] vs. [[socialism]] }}
|website=[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ Official website]|education=[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) <br> [[University of Chicago]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[PhD]])
| image_caption=Friedman in 2016
|father=[[Milton Friedman]]|mother=[[Rose Friedman]]}}
{{Chicago School (economics)}}
{{Libertarianism US}}
'''David Director Friedman''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|r|iː|d|m|ən}}; born February 12, 1945) is an American economist, physicist, and legal scholar. He is known for his textbook writings on [[microeconomics]] and the [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] theory of [[anarcho-capitalism]], which is the subject of his most popular book, ''[[The Machinery of Freedom]]''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Caplan|first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Caplan |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |title=Friedman, David (1945– ) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC  |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n117 |year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA  |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=194–195 |chapter=Friedman, David (1945–) |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Described by [[Walter Block]] as a "free-market anarchist" theorist,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Block |first=Walter E. |date=2011 |title=David Friedman and Libertarianism: A Critique |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/libpa3&div=71&id=&page= |journal=[[Libertarian Papers]] |volume=35 |issue=3 |page=22}}</ref> Friedman has also authored several other books and articles, including ''Price Theory: An Intermediate Text'' (1986), ''Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters'' (2000), ''Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life'' (1996), and ''Future Imperfect'' (2008).<ref>Free Market Mojo. [http://freemarketmojo.com/?p=5539 "An Interview with David D. Friedman"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122043412/http://freemarketmojo.com/?p=5539 |date=2010-11-22 }}.</ref>

==Life and work==
David Friedman is the son of economists [[Rose Friedman|Rose]] and [[Milton Friedman]]. He graduated ''[[magna cum laude]]'' from [[Harvard University]] in 1965, with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics.<ref>[http://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/friedman-david/ Faculty Profile: David Friedman] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722163211/http://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/friedman-david/ |date=2014-07-22 }}. Santa Clara Law School</ref> He later earned a master's in 1967, and a [[PhD]] in 1971 in theoretical physics from the [[University of Chicago]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Academic.html|title=My Academic Page|website=www.daviddfriedman.com}}</ref> Despite his later career, he never took a class for credit in either economics or law.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Athiparambath|first1=Shanu|title=Economist David Friedman Says India Must Go Taller To Make Homes Affordable|url=http://marketurbanism.com/2016/02/14/economist-david-friedman-says-india-must-go-taller-to-make-homes-affordable/|access-date=4 October 2016|work=Market Urbanism|date=14 February 2016}}</ref> He was a professor of law at [[Santa Clara University]] from 2005 to 2017,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phonebook.scu.edu/?v=pid&i=462|title=Santa Clara University|first=Santa Clara|last=University|website=phonebook.scu.edu}}</ref> and a contributing editor for ''[[Liberty (libertarian magazine)|Liberty]]'' magazine. He is currently a professor [[emeritus]]. He is an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref>Friedman, David D. [https://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2008/01/atheism-and-religion.html "Atheism and Religion"], ''Ideas''.</ref> His son, [[Patri Friedman]], has also written about libertarian theory and market anarchism, particularly [[seasteading]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wainwright |first=Oliver |date=2020-06-24 |title=Seasteading – a vanity project for the rich or the future of humanity? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/24/seasteading-a-vanity-project-for-the-rich-or-the-future-of-humanity |access-date=2025-03-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===''The Machinery of Freedom''===
{{Main|The Machinery of Freedom}}
In his book ''The Machinery of Freedom'' (1973), Friedman sketched a form of [[anarcho-capitalism]] where all goods and services including law itself can be produced by the [[free market]].  Friedman advocates an incrementalist approach to achieve anarcho-capitalism by gradual [[privatization]] of areas that government is involved in, ultimately privatizing the law itself. In the book, he states his opposition to violent [[anarcho-capitalist revolution]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Machinery of Freedom|pages=[https://archive.org/details/machineryoffreed00frie/page/149 149–150]|chapter=Revolution Is the Hell of It|author=Friedman, David D|isbn=0812690699|year=1995|publisher=Open Court |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/machineryoffreed00frie/page/149}}</ref>

He advocates a [[consequentialist libertarianism|consequentialist]] version of anarcho-capitalism, arguing for it on a [[cost–benefit analysis]] of state versus no state.<ref>Morris, Christopher. 1992. An Essay on the Modern State. Cambridge University Press. p. 62.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2019 |title=The World From an Anarchist-Anachronist-Economist's View with Dr. David Friedman |url=https://thewealthstandard.com/the-world-from-an-anarchist-anachronist-economists-view-with-dr-david-friedman/ |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=The Wealth Standard}}</ref> It is contrasted with the [[Natural-rights libertarianism|natural-rights]] approach as propounded most notably by economist and libertarian theorist [[Murray Rothbard]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

==Non-academic interests==
Friedman is a longtime member of the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]], where he is known as ''Duke Cariadoc of the Bow''. He is known throughout the worldwide society for his articles on the philosophy of recreationism and practical historical recreations, especially those relating to the medieval [[Middle East]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Restructuring.html|title=Friedman, David D. "On Restructuring the SCA"}}</ref> His work is compiled in the popular ''Cariadoc's Miscellany''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html|title=Cariadoc's Miscellany|website=www.pbm.com}}</ref> He is sometimes credited with founding the largest and longest-running SCA event, the [[Pennsic War]]; as king of the Middle Kingdom he challenged the East Kingdom, and later as king of the East accepted the challenge and lost (to himself).<ref>F.L. Watkins (Fólki Þorgilsson). 2005. ''Herstadr-Saga: An Incomplete History of Pennsic'' Urbana, Illinois: Folump Enterprises</ref>

He was a teenage [[wargame]]r who taught his school friend, [[Jack Radey]], founder of People's War Games, how to play such wargames as ''[[Tactics II]]''.<ref name="Homo Ludens">{{cite web |last1=Serval |first1=Fred |title=Jack Radey part 1 – The Origins of People's War Games |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGuMsL2dlpA | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/wGuMsL2dlpA| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|website=Homo Ludens |date=22 March 2020 |publisher=Fred Serval |access-date=11 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Radey relates how Friedman and himself wrote to [[Charles S. Roberts]] claiming that they had found a first turn winning strategy for each of the two sides. Roberts replied that their interpretation of the rules was valid.<ref name="Homo Ludens"/>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=January 2024}}

He is a long-time [[science fiction fandom|science fiction fan]], and has written three novels. ''Harald'' ([[Baen Books]], 2006) is set in an invented world drawn from European history.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://daviddfriedman.com/harald/Harald_background_info.html
|title=Harald - Background Information |first=David |last=Freidman |date=2020-03-17}}</ref>
''Salamander'' (2011) and its sequel ''Brothers'' (2020) are [[fantasy]].

He has spoken in favor of a [[non-interventionist]] foreign policy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO1xXD1Cws4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/TO1xXD1Cws4| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=Dr David Friedman on US Foreign Policy, Syria, Assad, Terrorism, WWII, Hitler, and much more...|last=VoluntaryVirtues0com|date=22 September 2013|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{Independent source inline|date=January 2024|reason=needed for context and [[WP:DUEWEIGHT]]}}

== Bibliography ==
=== Nonfiction ===
* 1988. ''[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Medieval.html Cariadoc's Miscellany]''.
* 1990 (2nd ed.; 1st ed.: 1986). ''[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_ToC.html Price Theory: An Intermediate Text]''. Southwestern Publishing.
* 1996. ''Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life''. {{ISBN|0887308856}}.
* 2000. ''[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/laws_order/index.shtml Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters]''. Princeton Univ. Press. {{ISBN|0691090092}}
* 2005. "The Case for Privacy" in ''Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics''. Wiley-Blackwell. {{ISBN|1405115483}}
* 2008. ''[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Future_Imperfect.html Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World]''. {{ISBN|0521877326}}
* 2015 (3rd ed.; 2nd ed.: 1989; 1st ed.: 1973). ''[[The Machinery of Freedom]]''. {{ISBN|978-1507785607}}
* 2019. ''[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Legal%20Systems/LegalSystemsContents.htm Legal Systems Very Different from Ours]''. {{ISBN|1793386722}}

=== Fiction ===
* {{cite book |title=Harald |date=2006 |author=David D. Friedman |publisher=Baen Books |ol=OL16070848W |url=https://archive.org/details/harald00frie |isbn=978-1416520566}}
* ''Salamander'', 2011
* ''Brothers'', 2020

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote|David Friedman}}
* {{official website|http://www.daviddfriedman.com/}}
* {{C-SPAN|44986}}
* [https://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/friedman-david/ Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220210231/http://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/friedman-david/ |date=2017-02-20 }} on the website of Santa Clara University
* {{ISFDB name}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120128162753/http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/74535-1/David+Friedman.aspx ''Booknotes'' interview with Friedman on ''Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life'', October 20, 1996.]
* {{Google Scholar id|8YoMQggAAAAJ}}

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