Milton Friedman won the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and stabilization policy.
Friedman was a leading figure of the Chicago school of economics. His monetary research emphasized the importance of the money supply in understanding inflation and economic fluctuations. His work challenged some prevailing Keynesian approaches during the postwar period.
One influential contribution was the permanent income hypothesis, which argues that household consumption depends largely on expected long-term income rather than only on current income. He also co-authored A Monetary History of the United States with Anna Schwartz, published in 1963.
Friedman received the economics prize in 1976, decades before the award became associated with later debates about central-bank policy. He also became widely known outside academia through public writing and the television series Free to Choose.