It might be tempting to see Badenoch’s acknowledgement of Hayek as a small victory for those who care about free markets—better than nothing—even if we acknowledge the seeming shallowness of her understanding and her apparent lack of difference in action from other contemporary British Conservatives. But if advocates of Austrian economics allow our ideas to continue being associated with the same moderate, center-right politicians who have consistently failed to increase the liberty and prosperity of their subjects, we should not be surprised when the younger generation begins to see free market ideas as just so many impotent, out-of-touch platitudes, nor when they begin to place their hopes in thinkers decidedly less liberal than Hayek.
It looks like she is somewhat familiar with Austrian economics and policy, however, not at a completely convincing level. She admires the right people but will she apply the political-economic policies of those peo;e? It is a cogent question of her adherence to the Austrian school.