Naive and Sophisticated Friedman

My ten words or less version of monetarism is: "the Fed should maintain a constant rate of money growth."  By that standard, Milton Friedman would probably not be pleased with the Fed:

David Beckworth and William Ruger, who have a more sophisticated understanding of Friedman's views, come to a similar conclusion in an op-ed, "What Would Milton Friedman Say About Fed Policy Under Bernanke?" They write:

Friedman would likely make the case today for more aggressive monetary action. It is time for "Helicopter Ben" to earn his nickname.

Beckworth has more at his blog.

On a related note, Brad DeLong argues that neither Friedman nor Keynes would be pleased with the new British government's austerity policy.