Hayek, ‘The Intellectuals And Socialism’, And Weighted Scale‐Free Networks

In 1949, Hayek attributed the dominant position of planning in the West to the role of intellectuals, by which he meant ‘professional second‐hand dealers in ideas’ such as journalists and commentators. Later in the twentieth century, we saw a similar phenomenon: particular social ideas, although frequently falsified empirically, have come to dominate through the efforts of intellectuals. This paper addresses how a small minority can set so decisively the terms of the debate. Hayek conjectured that this was the case, but did not specify the mechanism by which this can occur. Recent advances in network theory about how ideas can either spread across, or disappear in, a social network of individuals can explain this phenomenon. The implication of Hayek's insight, validated by modern network theory, is that think tanks should seek to influence ‘professional second‐hand dealers in ideas’ rather than adopt the naïve democratic principle of trying to persuade individual voters.