Who Said Hayek was a Laissez Faire Zealot... Even Hayek Acknowledged the Importance of the State in Establishing the Rules of the Road for Business!
The unpredictability of the particular effects, which is the distinguishing
characteristic of the formal laws of a liberal system, is also important because
it helps us to clear up another confusion about the nature of this system: the be-
lief that its characteristic attitude is inaction of the state. The question whether
the state should or should not "act" or "interfere" poses an altogether false al-
ternative, and the term "laissez faire" is a highly ambiguous and misleading
description of the principles on which a liberal policy is based. Of course, every
state must act and every action of the state interferes with something or other.
But that is not the point. The important question is whether the individual can
foresee the action of the state and make use of this knowledge as a datum in
forming his own plans, with the result that the state cannot control the use
made of its machinery and that the individual knows precisely how far he will
be protected against interference from others, or whether the state is in a posi-
tion to frustrate individual efforts.
F.A. HAYEK.... The Road to Serfdom
characteristic of the formal laws of a liberal system, is also important because
it helps us to clear up another confusion about the nature of this system: the be-
lief that its characteristic attitude is inaction of the state. The question whether
the state should or should not "act" or "interfere" poses an altogether false al-
ternative, and the term "laissez faire" is a highly ambiguous and misleading
description of the principles on which a liberal policy is based. Of course, every
state must act and every action of the state interferes with something or other.
But that is not the point. The important question is whether the individual can
foresee the action of the state and make use of this knowledge as a datum in
forming his own plans, with the result that the state cannot control the use
made of its machinery and that the individual knows precisely how far he will
be protected against interference from others, or whether the state is in a posi-
tion to frustrate individual efforts.
F.A. HAYEK.... The Road to Serfdom
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