How Hayek Became Hayek

by evanmcmurry

There’s an old episode of Night Court when Judge Whatshisface tells the story of how he got the judge post—namely, that the court called everybody on the list ahead of him, none of whom were home, but he picked up the phone. Which is about how Friedrich Hayek became the leading conservative intellectual of the mid-twentieth century:

Hayek didn’t start out as the Anti-Keynes, it turns out – he was a ringer, brought in by Lionel Robbins, William Beveridge, and other British conservatives to battle Keynes when Robbins & co. felt that they themselves weren’t up to the task. They brought in Hayek when their first choice, Ludwig von Mises, proved to be too bad at English (and too downright grumpy). (via)

Remember that the next time some blah blah blahs The Road to Serfdom at you.