[2] He became nationally prominent during the 2016 U.S. presidential election after writing an analysis of Democratic Party candidate Bernie Sanders campaign's policies in which Friedman concluded that these policies would produce significant economic growth in the United States (including 5.3% annual growth in real GDP) if they were enacted.
Later, he went on to obtain his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1986, with his dissertation titled, "Politics and Unions: Government, Ideology, and the Labor Movement in the United States and France, 1880-1914.
"[5] In early February, an article was published on CNN Money that described the Sanders platform as boosting income and jobs.
[7] According to a report in the Washington Post, the letter from the four former Chairs of The Council of Economic Advisers included an accusation that Professor Friedman was affiliated with the Sanders campaign.
"[15] James K. Galbraith, an economist from the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a letter that rebutted the critiques of Friedman's analysis.