Nobel-winning Chicago economists actively endorsed Pinochet’s dictatorship

Evidence

In the Chilean case, what is most striking about the relation between the economists and the junta’s repression is not that they ignored it, but how willingly they embraced it. Friedman wrote to Pinochet to assure him that Allende’s regime represented the ‘terrible climax’ of a trend towards socialism, and that the general had been ‘extremely wise in adopting the many measures you have already taken to reverse this trend’. In 1977, the Chicago human capital theorist, Gary Becker, wrote of his pride in his Chilean students, whose ‘willingness to work for a cruel dictator and start a different economic approach was one of the best things that happened to Chile’. … Hayek told the right-wing Chilean newspaper El Mercurio that, while he did not support permanent dictatorship, he saw Pinochet’s ‘transitional dictatorship’ as a ‘means of establishing a stable democracy and liberty, clean of impurities’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 329

Categorization

• SEED: Angle for an essay: the ‘transitional dictatorship’ doctrine as a precursor to modern crisis-executive / extra-constitutional governance claims.
• SHARE: Hayek’s ‘democracy clean of impurities’ line is worth sending to anyone who writes about the capture of democratic language by economic elites.
• CANDY: Gary Becker’s ‘pride in my Chilean students’ who worked for a cruel dictator is a staggering, tweetable gaffe from a Nobel laureate.
• XREF: connects to: A German pro-market economist excused Pinochet-era repression while resenting traffic lights at home — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 344; Hayek and Friedman personally advised and legitimized the Pinochet dictatorship. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 305; Hayek actively defended the Pinochet regime against human rights criticism. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 304 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Hayek directly legitimized Pinochet’s dictatorship as more liberal than unrestricted democracy. #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1592
• Chicago-trained economists filled key Chilean ministries under Pinochet #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1624
• German scholars documented the Mont Pèlerin Society’s defense of Pinochet’s dictatorship. #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1729
• Hayek repeatedly praised Pinochet, Salazar, and Suharto’s dictatorships as liberty-preserving #corroborates (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 363
• Mont Pèlerin members silently accepted Pinochet’s authoritarian rule at the 1981 meeting #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1589
• Liberal economists supported fascist austerity despite opposing dictatorship #qualifies (0.78) — Gary Mongiovi, Austerity Is an Antidemocratic Strategy…, 107