Friedrich Hayek

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[[File:Friedrich_Hayek_portrait.jpg|thumb|165px|This isn't the Hayek you're looking for.]]{{Economics}}
{{cquote|The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.|||F.A. Hayek<ref>''{{wpl|The Fatal Conceit|The Fatal Conceit,}}'' p. 76</ref>}}
{{cquote|Fascism is the stage that is reached after communism has proved an illusion.|||Hayek<ref>F. A. Hayek, ''The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents: The Definitive Edition,'' p. 80.</ref>}}
'''Friedrich August von Hayek'''<ref group=note>His name originally had the "von," but it was legally dropped after [[Austria]] lost the [[First World War]].</ref> (usually shortened to '''Friedrich von Hayek''' or '''F.A. Hayek''', 1899—1992) was an [[Austrian school]] economist, with all of the negative connotations that such a description implies. He co-won the [[Nobel Prize]] in [[Economics]] in 1974 with Gunnar Myrdal, [[irony|who was]] a Keynesian economist.<ref group=note>He was credited with a large role in the design of [[Sweden]]'s [[welfare state]]. Haha.</ref>

==Writings==

===''Road to Serfdom''===
The most enduring and popular of his works today is not any of his strictly economic works but his 1944 book ''The Road to Serfdom'',<ref group=note>You can read the whole thing [http://blog.mises.org/4185/road-to-serfdom-available-in-pdf/ here], but if you don't like reading too much, there's a [http://mises.org/books/TRTS/ "cartoon version"]</ref> a book explaining how "temporary" war-time measures often remain after the conclusion of the war leading to disastrous effects on economic well-being.<ref group=note>Both proponents and critics of the book often invoke a [[straw man|straw]] Hayek where ''any'' welfare programs or regulations are a [[slippery slope]] toward [[totalitarian]] government. Hayek, in fact, did not object wholesale to social safety nets and felt that laws such as [[environmental]] regulation could prove beneficial as long as they were enforced equally. (Keynes himself actually praised the book when it came out.) See Cafe Hayek's post [http://cafehayek.com/2011/05/not-the-end-of-hayek.html Not the End of Hayek] for one instance of this.</ref> The first popular appearance of the book was in a condensed version published by ''Reader's Digest'' in the April 1945.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/roadtoserfdomcondensed/page/n3/mode/2up ''Road To Serfdom (condensed)''] ''The Institute of Economic Affairs''.</ref> "The conservative publication omitted Hayek's politically inconvenient support for a minimum standard of living for the [[poor]], [[environmental]] and workplace safety regulations, and price controls to prevent [[Monopoly|monopolies]] from taking undue profits."<ref>''Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right'' by Jane Mayer (2016) Doubleday. ISBN 0385535597.</ref>{{rp|45}}

The book shot to number one on Amazon when [[Glenn Beck]] mentioned it on his show.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/16438630 Glenn Beck and Friedrich Hayek], ''[[The Economist]]''</ref> This ought to have set off some [[irony meter]]s as Hayek penned a lengthy essay entitled "Why I Am Not a Conservative," essentially arguing that conservatism was only good so long as it was conserving classical liberalism and not just any old set of policies or values.<ref>Hayek, FA. [http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/hayek-why-i-am-not-conservative.pdf "Why I Am Not a Conservative"] on the [[Cato Institute]] website</ref> 

It is perhaps more relevant now in explaining the [[Paranoia|thought processes]] of [[wingnut]]s than the possibility of a [[Communism|commie]] takeover in today's post-[[Cold War]] world.<ref>[http://crookedtimber.org/2010/10/01/hayeks-zombie-idea/ Hayek's Zombie Idea], Crooked Timber</ref>

===Price systems===
Hayek's work expanded on [[Ludwig von Mises]]' work on the economic calculation problem, i.e., the alleged inherent impossibility of pricing goods in a [[planned economy|state-run economy]] (which itself was an expansion of [[Max Weber]]'s statement of the problem).<ref>[http://mises.org/austecon/chap3.asp Beware, von Mises Institute]</ref> His idea of prices as information necessary to solve the calculation problem was very influential, albeit limited in reality to cases where there is no collusion, etc. 

He also expanded on the [[Austrian Business Cycle Theory]] (ABCT).  ABCT was rather "forward-thinking" at the time for attempting to tie the business cycle to credit expansion, although {{wpl|Irving Fisher}}, a contemporary of Hayek, came up with his debt-deflation theory which did the same during the [[Great Depression]] as well.<ref>[http://seekingalpha.com/article/104135-irving-fisher-on-debt-deflation-and-depression Irving Fisher on Debt-Deflation and Depression], Seeking Alpha</ref>

===Keynesian letters===
He debated [[John Maynard Keynes]] in a series of letters,<ref>[http://thinkmarkets.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/keynes-hayek-1932-cambridgelse.pdf Some of the actual newspaper clippings]</ref> and Hayek is generally thought to have lost the debate in that most countries left the [[gold standard]] and undertook policies of Keynesian stimulus during the [[Great Depression]]. However, the Hayek vs. Keynes debate obviously still rages on, and the basic philosophy of each is mirrored in all the left vs. right debates to this day.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/business/keynes-hayek-views-origins-of-an-economics-debate-review.html?pagewanted=all The Tale of the Dueling Economists], ''New York Times''</ref>  It has also been turned into two music videos for econ [[geek]]s to nerdgasm over.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk Fear the Boom and Bust: A Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQnarzmTOc "Fight of the Century": Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle Round Two]</ref>

Piero Sraffa battled Hayek's formulation of ABCT on the grounds that it relied on a "natural rate" of interest when there is no single natural rate.<ref>[http://robertvienneau.blogspot.com/2007/02/hayek-versus-sraffa.html Hayek versus Sraffa]</ref>  Hayek is generally thought to have lost that debate as well.

==Views==

===Differences with other Austrians===
Hayek is often viewed as apart from the other Austrians for a couple of reasons. One is that, while he irrationally decried the "[[scientism]]" of [[math]]ematical econometric models popular in the field at the time,<ref>FA Hayek. [http://www.cqyt.cn/sxxy/counterRev/node4.html Scientism and the Study of Society], ''Economica'', Vol. 9, No. 35 (Aug., 1942), pp. 267-291</ref> he did not fully accept the a priori praxeology of von Mises.<ref>[http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-post-on-praxeology-gets-some.html My Post on Praxeology Gets Some Attention]</ref> Thus, there is sometimes a distinction made between the "Hayek tradition" and the "Mises tradition." 

Second is that, like [[Adam Smith]], Hayek is often invoked to defend absolute [[free market]] fundamentalism when he was in fact probably the most [[moderate]] of the Austrians. Let's read from ''The Road to Serfdom'':

{{quotebox|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. Where, as in the case of sickness and accident, neither the desire to avoid such calamities nor the efforts to overcome their consequences are as a rule weakened by the provision of assistance - where, in short, we deal with genuinely insurable risks - the case for the state's helping to organize a comprehensive system of social insurance is very strong... Wherever communal action can mitigate disasters against which the individual can neither attempt to guard himself nor make the provision for the consequences, such communal action should undoubtedly be taken.<ref>Hayek, FA. ''The Road to Serfdom'', Ch. 9</ref>}}

Although Hayek did not categorically oppose [[welfare]] measures, he would still be a right-[[libertarian]] by today's standards (though those bits about [[health care]] and anti-[[pollution]] laws didn't go down too well with the [[anarcho-capitalist]]s<ref>[http://www.mises.ch/library/BlockonHayek_Road_to_Serfdom.pdf Walter Block reviews ''Road to Serfdom''] and says he's [[No True Scotsman|no true capitalist]].</ref>) and is often invoked (sometimes wrongly) by libertarians.

===Support for Pinochet===
Hayek, demonstrating his [[hypocrisy|libertarian credentials]], praised the [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] regime in [[Chile]]. He visited multiple times and held a meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society there in the 1970s.<ref>[http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/11/17/the-road-from-serfdom/ The Road From Serfdom] by Greg Grandin (November 17, 2006) ''Counterpunch''.</ref> Backing the regime as a temporary, necessary [[evil]], he said:
{{quotebox|Well, I would say that, as long-term institutions, I am totally against dictatorships. But a dictatorship may be a necessary system for a transitional period. At times it is necessary for a country to have, for a time, some form or other of dictatorial power. As you will understand, it is possible for a dictator to govern in a liberal way. And it is also possible for a democracy to govern with a total lack of liberalism. Personally I prefer a liberal dictator to democratic government lacking liberalism. My personal impression — and this is valid for South America — is that in Chile, for example, we will witness a transition from a dictatorial government to a liberal government. And during this transition it may be necessary to maintain certain dictatorial powers, not as something permanent, but as a temporary arrangement.<ref>[http://www.economicthought.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/LibertyCleanOfImpuritiesInterviewWithFVonHayekChile1981.pdf Extracts from an Interview Friedrich von Hayek], "El Mercurio" (p. D8-D9), 12 April 1981, Santiago de Chile</ref>}}

Chile did, in fact, make the transition from the Pinochet regime to a liberal democracy in 1988.

===On religion===
Hayek, a nontheist, had this to say on religion:

{{quotebox|...[I]f somebody really wanted religion, he had better stick to what seemed to be the 'true article,' that is, [[Roman Catholicism]]. [[Protestantism]] always appeared to me a step in the process of emancipation from a superstition -- a step which, once taken, must lead to complete unbelief."<ref>[http://www.jmarkgilbert.com/atheists.html Dead nontheists]</ref>}}

One wonders if he is aware that Catholicism itself is a deviation from [[Eastern Orthodox|older Christianity]], which is also a few steps away from other older religions.

===Later life===
Late in life he was associated with Stanford professor W.W. Bartley III, who was best known as a student and admirer of [[Karl Popper]] and at the time of his death was still working on editing Hayek's collected works. Hayek was also a follower of [[Erhard Seminars Training]] and author of the only authorized biography of Werner Erhard. Hayek's last published book, ''The Fatal Conceit'' (1988) was heavily edited by Bartley and there is some controversy over how much of the content is actually Hayek's writing as opposed to Bartley's.<ref>[http://mises.org/misesreview_detail.aspx?control=103 Catfight!]</ref>

==Friedrich versus Salma==
Academic research has also shown F.A. Hayek to be the better Hayek of the two.<ref>[http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/dgwhayek.html Hayek vs. Hayek scorecard]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Austrian school]]
*[[Neoliberalism]]

==External links==
*[http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Hayek.html Econ Library entry]
*[http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2011/12/daniel-kuehn-maynard-fred-gus-ralph-on-the-history-of-macroeconomics.html Daniel Kuehn: Maynard & Fred & Gus & Ralph on the History of Macroeconomics], Brad DeLong
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080606041202/https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=992 Who's Afraid of Friedrich Hayek? The Obvious Truths and Mystical Fallacies of a Hero of the Right]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT: Hayek, Friedrich}}
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Categories: Agnostics, Authors, Classical liberalism, Economists, Declinists, Great Depression, Liberals, Libertarians, Military, Philosophers, Right-wing activists, Austrian school