In Chicago, Frank Knight, Jacob Viner, and Henry Simons developed a more moderate response to the events of the time. All three were quick to denounce the excesses of laissezfaire, and they varyingly embraced the prospect of public works projects, progressive taxation, social insurance, and vigorous antitrust policies. This brought them much closer to the profession's mainstream than their colleagues in London, but made it diffi cult for others to associate them with any ascertainable doctrine or plan. Considered in conjunction, the economists in London and Chicago reveal a world of market advocacy that was very much in disarray. Some corners held fi rm to reactionary extremes that few were willing to follow; others much more readily made concessions but proved incapable of articulating a coherent oppositional worldview.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 46