Final answer:
Friedrich Hayek believed in the paramount importance of a free market with limited government regulation to ensure economic efficiency and individual freedom, opposing central planning that could lead to totalitarianism.
Step-by-step explanation:
Friedrich Hayek believed that the most beneficial thing for society would be the operation of a free market system with limited governmental regulation. He argued that this system allowed for the most efficient and rational allocation of resources, which leads to economic prosperity and safeguards the freedom of the individual. Hayek was particularly critical of central planning and government intervention in the economy, which he felt would lead to totalitarianism, as argued in his seminal work 'The Road to Serfdom'. Therefore, Hayek’s core tenet was that freedom in economic activities, supported by the regulation of certain functions such as banking, was crucial for the thriving of society.