Working economists abandoned laissez-faire decades before the public realized it
Evidence
Despite the lingering popularity of the idea of laissezfaire and the widely shared assumption that it was the prevailing view of most economists, for more than fi fty years the world’s leading practitioners of the profession had applied it only as, in the words of John Elliott Cairnes, a “handy rule of practice” with “no scientifi c basis what ever.” … In other words, laissezfaire was dead, and only the public had yet to know. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 12
Categorization
- XREF: Echoes the Marxism-vs-postmodernism debate about theory versus vulgarization that Callinicos treats; also prefigures the gap between economic practice and public doctrine explored throughout this book. — connects to: By 1945 mainstream economists dismissed market-equilibration theory as obsolete — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 417; Laissez-faire doctrine originated with popularizers, not the classical economists; Early free-market economists legitimized some government intervention; later ones did not — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 375 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- By 1945 mainstream economists dismissed market-equilibration theory as obsolete
#corroborates(0.95) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 417 - Keynesian economics conquered academia before shaping public policy
#corroborates(0.85) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 78 - Early neoliberals explicitly distanced themselves from classical laissez-faire doctrine
#qualifies(0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 117 - Laissez-faire doctrine originated with popularizers, not the classical economists
#qualifies(0.80) - Postwar economics expansion made neoliberalism appear outdated and marginal.
#corroborates(0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 291 - Early free-market economists legitimized some government intervention; later ones did not
#expands(0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 375