Hayek held that ideas, not vested interests, ultimately shape political possibility

Evidence

But what to the politicians are fixed limits of practicability imposed by public opinion must not be similar limits to us. Public opinion on these matters is the work of men like ourselves … who have created the political climate in which the politicians of our time must move… . I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. (Quoted in Cockett 1995, 112) One might have added, how much more powerful are ideas consciously forged with the vested interest firmly kept in mind! — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2116

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is the canonical Hayek quote — worth chasing its full context in Cockett’s account and how it squares with the preceding passage’s note that the MPS kept vested interests firmly in mind.
• SEED: The tension between Hayek’s public ‘ideas over interests’ line and the Society’s actual cultivation of corporate patrons is an article-worthy contradiction in the standard origin story.
• XREF: connects to: Hayek and Friedman shared faith that ideas could transform political practice — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 560; Ideas, not vested interests, ultimately shape political possibility. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 136; Keynes and Hayek both held that economic ideas rule the world. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 608 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Hayek justified markets by dispersed knowledge, not happiness maximization #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2195