Aaron Director failed to deliver the planned American Road to Serfdom

Evidence

Although Hayek and the Volker Fund had cooperated to bring about the composition of an American Road to Serfdom, Aaron Director—the individual anointed with this primary responsibility—never finished the book by the conclusion of the FMS around 1952. … The first half of the FMS essentially was devoted to debate over several possible trajectories of a reconceptualized liberal doctrine, whereas the last half basically served to consolidate a chosen trajectory. It is evident, however, that from 1946 to 1947 Director and Friedman were more than a little unclear as to how to accomplish this convergence; and that at that point in time Levi still clung to his classical liberal convictions. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1098

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why did Director never finish the American Road to Serfdom? The uncompleted project hints at the intellectual pivot happening in the group during 1946-1952.
• XREF: connects to: The Road to Serfdom’s American tour directly launched the Hayek-Luhnow funding relationship — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 715; Volker Fund wanted an American Road to Serfdom pitched at near-literacy level — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 738; Chicago economists rejected Hayek because Road to Serfdom was too popular a work — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 786 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Hayek’s American Road project was subordinate to a larger liberal movement #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 737