In 2008, liberals tapped a former University of Chicago law professor to turn the tables in Washington. In 2010, it’s the Tea Party’s that’s been taking its cues from a U of C professor.
Thanks to conservative TV and radio personality Glenn Beck’s persistent promotion, former U of C professor F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, first published by the University of Chicago Press in 1944, climbed to the top of Amazon.com’s bestseller list this summer.
Since Beck spent one episode of his Fox News show on the book on June 8, Serfdom has sold 156,000 paperback copies and 14,000 e-book copies, according to Garrett Kiely, director of the University Press. The average book published by the Press, by contrast, sells several hundred to several thousand copies per year.
“This book was like a Mike Tyson (in his prime) right hook to socialism in Western Europe and in the United States,” Beck said, according to his website.
“But its influence didn’t stop there. It has inspired political and economic leaders for decades since, most famously, Ronald Reagan. Reagan often praised Hayek when he talked about people waking up to the dangers of big government.”
Read the full story at the Chicago Maroon.
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.