Mr. Friedman saw how big the internet had become, and that we didn't need the government any longer to tell us what is what. We can find out information on our own. Obviously, the next step is creating a new currency that would work without their control as well. It was only a matter of time before someone would attempt it. Satoshi wasn't the only one with the vision of creating a global digital currency, but he seems to have been the quickest to develop something that really works and is attractive for the end-users on a greater scale.
Indeed, Satoshi had to have been influenced by lots of people, way of thinking and
previous projects and the concepts behind them.
Milton Friedman must have been one of them. He certainly had all the credentials.
Credit can go to these people who laid the foundations for Satoshi, but to be able to
build on these ideas with the vision of Bitcoin and bring it to life deserves greater credit.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_FriedmanMilton Friedman (/ˈfriːdmən/ (listen); July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American
economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for
his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy.
Anyone interested in reading a bit about the Cypherpunks who also certainly influenced Satoshi
can visit an old thread of mine below >
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5217348.msg53597623#msg53597623