ProcessPaper

WhenIwasachild,IusedtosavemypocketmoneysoIcouldbuyanexpensivetoy
later.Weareraisedwithapreexistingsenseofeconomics.WhenIwas14yearsold,Istarted
readingabouthowcapitalismisruiningoursociety.Ononehanditspowertoincreaseanations
wealthbutontheother,itwasthecauseforcorporategreedandincomeinequalitythatisso
prevalentinourcurrentsociety.AsIexploredaboutit,whatwasmostinterestingwasthe
persuasivenessoftheeconomist,MiltonFriedman,nowmyhero.AsNHDapproached,I
decidedtoexploreMiltonFriedmansanarchocapitalisteconomicideas.
Oneofthebenefitsofchoosingaprojectonapersonwholivedrecentlyisthatthereisa
lotofdocumentationonhiswork.OneoftheprimarysourcesIusedwasFriedmansTVseries,
FreetoChoose.Manyofhisideasonwhatissueswereimportanttohimweredebatedinthis
show.IalsoreadanumberofbooksthatFriedmanwroteonthetopic.Thewonderfulthing
aboutthemediumformyprojectisthatitallowstheusertointeractwiththeproject.This
interactivityenablesmywebsitetopresentsomecomplextopicsasapproachableand
understandable.OneexampleisagraphthatrepresentsthePhillipscurve.Byhoveringoverthe
graphtheusercouldseedifferentpercentagesofunemploymentandinflationyearbyyear.
Economicsrequirestheabilitytodrawconclusionsbasedoffofpastdatasets.MuchofmydataI
foundwasonline,althoughIhadtoreadsomejournalstomodelsomegraphs.Newspapersalso
providedanecdotesofwhatpeoplethoughtofFriedmanatthattime.Ireachedouttoafew
professorsandpeoplewhodirectlyinteractedwithMiltonFriedmantogetfirsthandaccounts.
Webdesignanddevelopmentisofgreatinteresttomeandthisismythirdyearworking
onawebsiteproject.Thisyear,myprojectisacomplicatedsubjectthatneedstobepresentedin

acreativeway.Awebsiteallowstheusertonavigateandinteractinwaysthatmakesthemost
sensetothatindividual.Itooksomecomplexconceptsandsimplifiedthemusingtimelinesand
interactivegraphs.Asacomputerprogrammerinmyfreetime,Itriedtodesignanexperience,
notanidea.Thisisonlyfeasiblewithawebsite.
MyprojectsupportstheNHDtheme.EventhoughMiltonFriedmandidnotinvent
capitalism,heexploredindepththeideasoffreemarketcapitalismandgovernmentintervention.
HeencounteredKeynesiansandsocialistswhodisagreedwithhisideas.Healsoencountered
socialideologiessuchasracismandexploredtheeffectsoftheseideasinothercountries.He
encounteredmanypeoplewhodidnotaccepttheseideasandpersuadedthem.Hislaissezfaire
economicmodelsshapedmanypresidentsandworldleaders.Lastly,histheoriesonexchangeof
moneyandgoodsarestillusedtodayinAmericaandmuchoftheworld.