Here’s Hayek in The Road to Serfdom:

There is no reason why in a society which has reached the general level of wealth which ours has attained the first kind of security [that is, limited security] should not be guaranteed to all without endangering general freedom…. Nor is there any reason why the state should not assist the individuals in providing for those common hazards of life against which, because of their uncertainty, few individuals can make adequate provision.

Compare actual Hayek above to Bruce Bartlett’s grossly false account of “Hayek” and his The Road to Serfdom:

In 1944, the Austrian economist F.A. Hayek published an extraordinarily influential book, The Road to Serfdom. In it, he argued that liberalism eventually leads to totalitarianism; that is, once a nation has embarked on the creation of a welfare state, there is no natural limit to the size of government until it controls everything, socialism becomes pervasive and political freedom evaporates.

Bartlett quotes Jeffrey Sachs as his authority on this matter, but Bartlett must be aware of the many explodings of Sachs gross errors in this matter, such as William Easterly in the WSJ.

UPDATE: Is the Welfare State the new road to Serfdom? Richard Ebeling joins the debate.

BONUS LINK: Walter Block on Hayek and The Road to Serfdom.