Jeffrey Friedman, RIP

The distinguished political theorist Jeffrey Friedman handed away instantly on December 2, on the far-too-early age of 63. Jeff was best-known for his work on democracy, political data, and libertarianism, and for his position because the editor of Crucial Evaluate, the extremely profitable interdisciplinary educational journal he based in 1987, and edited from then till his dying. Jeff additionally taught at a number of universities across the nation, together with Barnard, Boston College, Dartmouth, the College of Texas, and Harvard (the place, on the time of his passing, he was a visiting scholar on the Committee on Social Research).

The most effective introduction to Jeff’s multifaceted and sophisticated work is his underrated 2019 e-book Energy With out Information: A Critique of Technocracy (Oxford College Press). He additionally authored or edited essential books on the 2008 monetary disaster and rational alternative concept (of which he was a forceful critic).

Whereas Jeff was typically thought of a libertarian, or not less than libertarian-adjacent, he largely rejected standard libertarian  political thought. He was equally skeptical of normal approaches to democratic concept. Like libertarian (and a few non-libertarian) critics of contemporary democratic authorities, Jeff argued that widespread voter ignorance was a critical hazard. However, not like them, he claimed that the majority such ignorance was inadvertent “radical” ignorance, relatively individually rational habits (as believed by most economists and different social scientists). He additionally argued that comparable radical ignorance stricken knowledgeable decision-making on public coverage, and traditional social scientific evaluation. He thus concluded that markets typically produce higher outcomes than authorities, not due to superior incentives, however as a result of they provide higher alternatives for trial-and-error studying.

The above is a extremely oversimplified abstract that does not actually do justice to Jeff’s extremely refined and nuanced writings. Few different students of our time may equal Jeff’s depth and breadth of data of an unlimited vary of points chopping throughout disciplinary boundaries. When you actually need to perceive his work, there isn’t any substitute for studying it!

Whereas Jeff and I wrote on a number of the identical points, and sometimes reached comparable comparatively libertarian conclusions, we differed on many factors. In contrast to Jeff, I imagine that the majority political ignorance is actually rational, and I feel social science typically generates extra highly effective insights than he gave it credit score for. For a abstract of our variations about democracy and public ignorance, see this 2013 symposium about my e-book Democracy and Political Ignorance, a piece that certainly benefited from Jeff’s affect, regardless that it makes many factors he strongly disagreed with.

Regardless of our variations—a few of them on points the place he had very sturdy views—Jeff was a useful good friend and mentor to me, over a few years. The identical was true of quite a few different youthful students. Manner again in 1998, after I was a younger graduate pupil, I revealed my very first article on political ignorance in Crucial Evaluate—at Jeff’s suggestion. It stays one among my 4 or 5 most cited works to at the present time—a standing it will not have achieved with out Jeff’s beneficial strategies and his criticisms of my many rookie errors.

Lately, we had comparatively little contact, as my time was taken up by different private {and professional} commitments. That neglect is not less than partly my fault, and definitely is my loss. It didn’t happen to me that so energetic an individual as Jeff may depart us so quickly.

In what’s now a prolonged educational profession spanning a number of universities, nations, and continents, I’ve not often, if ever, met anybody who epitomized what it means to be a gentleman and a scholar greater than Jeffrey Friedman. His passing is a horrible loss. I prolong my condolences to his household, associates, and colleagues.