Neoliberals attacked planning as epistemically impossible, not merely undesirable.

Evidence

On the one hand, neoliberals argued, any theory of historical development wrongfully applied lawful assumptions to the contingency of history, thereby confusing prophecy and prediction, and mistaking explanation by general principles with the knowledge of deliberate direction. On the other hand, engineers and planners suffered from a “slavish imitation of the method and language of Science” which they used for the purpose of “social midwifery.” By denying the fundamental uncertainty in social processes, and the logical impossibility of controlling social wholes, Polanyi contended that their mentality veered towards “utopian engineering,” and was the inspiration for “grandiose planning.” The application of statistics and mathematics to social problems was inadequate because of epistemological complications linked with the use of probabilities for predictions. To Rougier, “social engineering” and the use of econometrics amounted to a “technocratic conceit,” whose method “to put everything into equations” was stimulated by a metaphysical belief in universal determinism incompatible with the fundamental indeterminacy found at the atomic level. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 84

Categorization

• XREF: Extends Popper’s critique of historicism and ‘utopian engineering’ to the specific vocabulary of Polanyi and Rougier within the Colloque Walter Lippmann circle. — connects to: Neoliberals rejected planning yet immediately designed world-scale institutional blueprints. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 398; Neoliberal critique deployed a two-pronged argument against planning — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1367; Anti-planning epistemology was later weaponized as liberalism against totalitarianism — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 74 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal critique deployed a two-pronged argument against planning #expands (0.93) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1367
• Anti-planning epistemology was later weaponized as liberalism against totalitarianism #expands (0.88) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 74
• The feeling that systematic knowledge is impossible stems from uncontrollable modern events, not epistemology #contradicts (0.82) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 19
• Pure inductive knowledge cannot justify claims about the future. #corroborates (0.78)
• Neoliberalism operates through systematic contradiction and disavowal of its own practices #complicates (0.75) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 81
• An irrational social whole cannot be grasped by a rational, consistent theory. #corroborates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2390