person1899–1992

Friedrich Hayek

Disciplines:

Summary

Austrian-British economist and political philosopher — Nobel Prize in Economics (1974) — author of The Road to Serfdom, The Constitution of Liberty, and Prices and Production — whose argument that prices aggregate dispersed knowledge better than central planners could inspired the Reagan-Thatcher revolution.

Core Contribution

Creates the price system as information aggregation theory — Hayek's The Use of Knowledge in Society (1945) argued that prices aggregate dispersed local knowledge that no central authority could possess; this is the most important argument against planned economies in economics.

Key Spikes & Highlights

Was read by Thatcher — she famously pulled out a copy of The Constitution of Liberty at a Conservative Party strategy meeting and said 'This is what we believe'; his influence on Thatcher's economic program was direct and acknowledged, making him the economist whose academic work most directly became government policy in the 20th century
Lost the Hayek-Keynes debate publicly in the 1930s — Keynes's General Theory and the success of New Deal interventionism made Hayek look wrong for 40 years; then stagflation vindicated his critique of Keynesian policy and he won the Nobel Prize; his 40-year experience of being considered wrong before being vindicated is the most dramatic arc in 20th century economics

Notable Works & Achievements

Prices and Production

The Pure Theory of Capital

The Road to Serfdom

Individualism and Economic Order

The Constitution of Liberty

Law, Legislation and Liberty

Historical Influences

Carl Menger Ludwig von Mises Adam Smith

Intellectual Lineage

Vienna University of Vienna London School of Economics University of Chicago University of Freiburg

Contemporaries & Peers

John Maynard Keynes Ludwig von Mises Milton Friedman

Minds Influenced

Reagan-Thatcher economic revolution Libertarian economics

Intellectual Posterity

Road to Serfdom Knowledge problem Hayek-Keynes debate Spontaneous order Nobel Prize 1974 Hayek as Thatcher's economist

Discussing

Friedrich Hayek

Ask anything about Friedrich Hayek — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.

person1899–1992

Friedrich Hayek

Disciplines:

Summary

Core Contribution

Key Spikes & Highlights

Was read by Thatcher — she famously pulled out a copy of The Constitution of Liberty at a Conservative Party strategy meeting and said 'This is what we believe'; his influence on Thatcher's economic program was direct and acknowledged, making him the economist whose academic work most directly became government policy in the 20th century
Lost the Hayek-Keynes debate publicly in the 1930s — Keynes's General Theory and the success of New Deal interventionism made Hayek look wrong for 40 years; then stagflation vindicated his critique of Keynesian policy and he won the Nobel Prize; his 40-year experience of being considered wrong before being vindicated is the most dramatic arc in 20th century economics