Editors’ note: The following is an edited version of remarks delivered at the Pacific Research Institute on June 16, 2026, in acceptance of the Milton Friedman Award. It is a special honor to receive an award named for Milton Friedman, the pathbreaking economist, friend and advocate for liberty, fierce debater, and intellectual combatant—a man whose ideas have shaped the modern world. It is not an exaggeration to say that we live today in the Ag…