With the rise of pro-market thinking, British political theorist John Gray’s ideological metamorphosis—from classical liberal to welfare statist—is an anomaly meriting close inspection. Gray may be sending a wake-up call to his former allies when he complains that the “liberty maxim” they loudly trumpet sounds more like a reflexive mantra than a well-grounded principle.
Daniel B. Klein is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor of Economics at George Mason University.
EconomistsEconomyGovernment and PoliticsLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and ReligionPolitical Theory
Other Independent Review articles by Daniel B. Klein
Summer 2023 The Tao Exposes Slavers to Contempt
Spring 2023 Instilling Duties above Instilling Rights: Two Features of Adam Smith’s Talk of Justice and Liberty
Summer 2020 Adam Smith’s Rebuke of the Slave Trade, 1759
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