guest: bruce bartlett who was my counterpart on the joint economic committee has been a good friend for 30 years. in the most recent republican administration, i don't think there were any such avatars of big ideas. this was an administration that ran the country for the benefit of basically its own political constituency and did so in a fairly unabashedly way. you could not engage in the same kind of arguments over right is because it was essentially no one on the other side who was upholding them. host: so, a milton friedman, even though you may disagree with him politically. guest: yes, a milton friedman is someone i debated, in fact in 1990, when he reissued his television program, free to choose. i was on the first panel. i don't consider him to be a friend and someone who who you had respect because he was advancing his ideas. in that format of debate , but a very much admire. host: those are the types of ideas from the milton friedman's of the world, which in your view that conservatives have abandoned? guest: absolutely. the conservatives abandon friedman very early. his ideas w

bruce bartlett was my counterpart on the committee and has been a good friend for 30 years. ran the country for the benefit of basically its own political constituencies and it did so in a fairly unabashedly. you couldn't engage in the same kind of arguments because there was essentially nobody on the other side who was upholding them. >> so milton friedman even though you may disagree with him politically. >> someone i debated in fact in 1990 when he reissued his television program free to choose i considered to be a friend and someone who you have to respect becaushadto respect s advancing his ideas. in that format of the debate i admire. >> so those are the type of ideas in your view which the conservatives have abandoned, correct? >> they abandoned friedman very early. his ideas were unworkable. they never advanced the monetary policy. >> and why liberals should, too. what does that mean? >> the rhetoric of the free market is something liberals have learned to give lipservice to as a price to the discussion in the united states and that little blurb would apply particula