Such responses provide a reminder that the stridency of the later Chicago School was a product of change rather than constancy. Although the early Chicago economists viewed themselves as defenders of capitalism in a social environment that had rapidly turned hostile, they were convinced that it was a system that required moderation, regulation, and restraint. They were drawn to it more by skepticism of the available alternatives than by any confi dence in the desirability of the market ideal.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 108