What most people are objecting to is that the market gives people what the people want instead of what the person talking thinks the people aught to want.
–Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman is easily the most influential economist since John Maynard Keynes. What makes him such a powerful voice for the free market is his ability to distill complex macro economic theory into chunks non-economists can easily understand. He is so influential, and understandable, that PBS actually produced a series with him explaining economic ideas and debating these thoughts with other prominent scholars, politicians, and businessmen. The series was called “Free To Choose.”
Unfortunately most of us don’t have hours worth of time to watch all the episodes (although you should.) To get a quick overview of each of his core concepts Trent Liberty has produced a series of 7 videos called The Friedman Series. The background audio ranges from amazing to annoying, but the topic selection is outstanding. If you get nothing else from the video, always remember that the biggest danger to liberty isn’t inequality, but the sincerity of the well intentioned.