Early Hayek held that economics could guide policy without claiming normative expertise.

Evidence

In the early 1930s Hayek, too, was reluctant to connect economic analysis to any social or po liti cal ideology. He aligned himself with Robbins’s methodological views, agreeing with his colleague’s argument that economists should avoid claims to normative expertise. His inaugural lecture explicitly praised Robbins for having “so effectively impressed upon us, that science by itself can never prove what ought to be done.” He also agreed with Robbins’s contention that the philosophical limitations of economics should not prevent its practitioners from participating in po liti cal debates. Because the economist’s tools were needed to determine “the best policy” for achieving ends that were widely shared, Hayek concluded that it would be appropriate for economists to criticize proposals for social improvement if they “were not conducive to the desired end” or “policies of a radically different nature would bring about the desired result.” — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 132

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the pre-neoliberal Hayek, before his later militant anti-planning rhetoric; connects to the standard narrative of Hayek’s evolution away from Robbins’s scientism toward a value-laden polemic that this book presumably revises. — connects to: Early Hayek wrote obscure technical economics untouched by overt political ideology. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 132; Hayek held liberalism adaptive, maximizing spontaneity and minimizing coercion — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 565; Hayek originally believed economists should avoid normative and ideological claims — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 132
• DEFINE: Establishes the early Robbins-influenced positivist stance that ‘science can never prove what ought to be done’ — a key antecedent for later disputes over whether economists should be value-neutral.

Broader Connections

• Early Hayek wrote obscure technical economics untouched by overt political ideology. #expands (0.82) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 132
• Hayek held liberalism adaptive, maximizing spontaneity and minimizing coercion #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 565