Hayek possessed a towering intellect. At the same time, his intelligence was as much brittle as it was powerful. - Alan O. Ebenstein

Hayek, highly influenced by Mach as a young man, began reading him immediately following his return from service in World War I. He remarked about four decades later that he was “stimulated by Mach’s work to study psychology and the physiology of the senses,” though his interest in these areas derived as much from disagreement as agreement with Mach’s work.

Hayek emphasized the importance of rules. He thought that what society should do is not to direct the individual in his or her particular actions, but to create a metaphysical structure, as it were, enforced by rules or laws, that create stable expectations and thus allow rational action.

Keynes ultimately placed his hopes for good government in exceptional men. The focus in Hayek’s work was rules.