Rummaging through the digitized archival offerings of the University of Wisconsin library, I came across the poster above announcing a debate betwen Leon Keyserling and Milton Friedman. The poster gives a date and time for the debate but no year was included for the obvious reason that advertising years in advance on posters seldom makes sense. The webpage where the image of the poster is displayed is hardly helpful in dating the debate:
Economic debate poster
- ca. 1961-ca. 1973
- A poster announcing a debate on government action on the economy to be held at the Union Theater. The poster once hung in Van Hise Hall and was found during construction.
From the following two articles in the Wisconsin State Journal we find that the debate took place in 1963. It is also somewhat interesting to note that the debate took place just eight days before the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
________________________
U.S. Government Role in Economy Will Be Debated
Economists Leon Keyserling and Milton Friedman will debate the proposition that the federal government should play an active roll in the economy, at 8:15 tonight in the Wisconsin Union theater.
Keyserling, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President from 1950 until the end of the Truman Administration, will present the affirmative aide of the argument.
He is presently the head of the Conference on Economic Progress and a consulting economist and attorney in Washington. He has served as deputy administrator of the U.S. Housing Authority, and as consultant to various committees and members of the Senate and the House.
Keyserling has been connected with the studies and drafting of such economic legislation as the National Industrial Recovery act, the National Housing act, the National Labor Relations act, the Employment act, and the General Housing act.
Debating the negative side of the proposition will be Friedman, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and a member of the research staff of the National Board [sic] of Economic Research.
A visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin in 1940-41, Friedman has also served as an associate economist with the National Resources committee and as the principal economist for the division of tax resources of the U.S. Treasury Department.
The debate is sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Forum committee and the Pan-Hellenic and Interfraternity Associations. No tickets are needed.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Madison. Thursday, November 14, 1963, p. 4.
________________________
1,000 Hear Top Economists Debate Role of Government
By William Hauda (State Journal Staff Writer)
Economists Leon Keyserling and Milton Friedman Thursday night didn’t reach any agreement on what role the federal government should play in the national economy.
Keyserling, a liberal and a leading consulting economist and attorney in Washington, D. C, contended that the federal government should play an active role in the economy.
Debate Before 1,000
Friedman, a conservative and professor of economics at the University of Chicago, argued the negative in a debate before more than 1,000 persons in the Wisconsin Union theater.
Keyserling maintained that today’s world problems of competing economic systems and large armaments “can only be solved through the system we call government”
“These things will continue to require sensitive, progressive, alert, and — yes — expanding public responsibility,” he said.
Friedman said, “Of course we all know the federal government has for a long time played a role in the economy. I am sure that; Mr. Keyserling, like all of us, would like to see a world where less is spent on armaments.”
He went on to argue that, in most every case, federal control has not accomplished its objectives.
He said it was “not a simple issue of responsible government” and that he wanted to see a system in which a producer can’t get government protection and can only prosper by serving the consumer.
Cites Travels
Friedman said neither the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) nor the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has accomplished their objectives and described anti-trust legislation as a “mixed bag” of good and bad.
Of his recent travels around the world, he said, “What struck me was wherever there was extensive central planning, there was poverty.” As examples, he cited Russia, India and Indonesia.
“I am not saying free enterprise will produce prosperity,” he added. “By itself, it is not a sufficient condition.”
In his rebuttal, Keyserling said Friedman’s arguments were like saying if there is corruption in the New York police department, we should just get rid of the police.
“Next, my friend trys to tell you that the farm program has accomplished nothing. Goodness knows, there are thorns in the farm program. But what person can stand up in the state of Wisconsin and tell you the farmer is not better off than 40 years ago.”
“My friend wants to do away with the public operation of secondary schools,” said Keyserling. I don’t. I think we need more schools.”
“I’m the first one to the government has not perfected the degree of control of business cycles that I would like to see it obtain,” said Keyserling. But he added, “all this progress has been made within our life time and I’d like to see it continue.”
Friedman said, “The best thing the government can do is provide a stable (economic) background.” He said the government should not disrupt the economy and should allow free enterprise to run the economy.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal. Madison. Saturday, November 16, 1963, p. 7.
Image Source: University of Wisconsin digital library.