Viner embraced lesser-evil pragmatism over Robbins’s doctrinal purity

Evidence

Viner shared an instinctual support for free markets with Robbins, but he was much more willing to abandon his conservative inclinations to accommodate situational complexities and the po liti cal tenor of the time. “While I am more of a defeatist than you,” he confi ded to his close friend in 1940, “and am more disposed to be content when the lesser of evils is chosen instead of the true good, I am wholly and admiringly with you in your aims.” — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 101

Categorization

• DEFINE: Captures the lesser-evil mindset that distinguished pragmatic market advocates from creedal liberals in the 1930s-40s crisis.