Both Frank Knight and Henry Simons extolled the book as a major event and a brilliant contribution to contemporary debates about the appropriate scope of governmental interference in the economy, but expressed concerns that it was— paradoxically—excessively optimistic in its interpretation of the prospects for reform and insuffi ciently critical in its accep tance of certain laissezfaire principles.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 161