Chicago economists rejected Hayek because Road to Serfdom was too popular a work

Evidence

The possibility was raised of a position within the Economics Department. The deliberations occurred in the fall term of 1948, only two years after the launch of the Chicago School. The Economics Department, however, flatly refused to appoint Hayek. Friedman, by then an active member of the Economics Department, claimed to have had no say in the matter (Ebenstein 2001, 174), but we find this implausible. Others have noted Friedman’s uncharacteristic defensiveness when queried about this incident (Caldwell 2004, 297n10). … The Economics Department welcomed his connection with Social Thought, although the economists had opposed his appointment in Economics for years before largely because they regarded his Road to Serfdom as too popular a work for a respectable scholar to perpetrate. It was all right to have him at the University of Chicago so long as he wasn’t identified with the economists. (Nef 1973, 237) Ironically, after Hayek had worked so assiduously to bring about the collaboration of liberal-minded members of the Law School, Economics Department, and Business School, not one of these units could find it in their interest to extend Hayek an offer. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 786

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the tension between popular intellectual advocacy and academic respectability — parallels themes in the reader’s prior readings on how polemical nonfiction is received within disciplines. — connects to: Hayek’s sudden American celebrity from The Road to Serfdom discomforted him deeply — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 222; Chicago economists resisted Hayek’s Austrian methodology, demanding empirical research instead. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 734; Aaron Director failed to deliver the planned American Road to Serfdom — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1098 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: was Friedman actually complicit in blocking Hayek, and if so, why would a fellow free-market apostle want him excluded?

Broader Connections

• Aaron Director failed to deliver the planned American Road to Serfdom #qualifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1098
• Volker Fund wanted an American Road to Serfdom pitched at near-literacy level #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 738