Essays

The Common Sense of Progress

– "The Common Sense of Progress." The Freeman (November 1960). Reprinted from The Constitution of Liberty (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960).
Excerpt: If today in the United States or western Europe the relatively poor can have a car or a refrigerator, an airplane trip or a radio, at the cost of a reasonable part of their income, this was made possible because in the past others with larger incomes… More

The Defense of Our Civilization Against Intellectual Error

– "The Defense of Our Civilization Against Intellectual Error." The Freeman (March 2004). Reprinted from What’s Past Is Prologue, a collection of tributes published in honor of FEE founder Leonard E. Read’s 70th birthday, September 26, 1968.
Excerpt: I believe that what the Foundation for Economic Education, with Leonard Read at its head, and all his co-fighters and friends are committed to is nothing more nor less than the defense of our civilization against intellectual error. I do not mean… More

Introduction: Selected Essays on Political Economy

– Introduction by F. A. Hayek. In Selected Essays on Political Economy, trans. by Seymour Caln. Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., 1995.
Excerpt: Even those who may question the eminence of Frédéric Bastiat as an economic theorist will grant that he was a publicist of genius. Joseph Schumpeter calls him “the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived.” For the purpose of… More

Richard Cantillon

– "Richard Cantillon." Journal of Libertarian Studies, VII, no. 2 (Fall 1985), 217–247.
Excerpt: In economics, just as in other sciences, it is by no means an exceptional occurrence to find that, no sooner has a “new” doctrine made its mark, than earlier, completely forgotten writers are discovered who perceived those newly accepted… More

Gesammelte Aufsätze

– Ewald Schams. Gesammelte Aufsätze. Prefaced by F.A. Hayek. Ready in Spring 1983. Munich: Philosophia Verlag.

Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis

– Ludwig von Mises. Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis. Translated by Jacques Kahane. 1981 Introduction by F.A. Hayek. Indianapolis: LibertyClassics, 1981
Hayek’s Foreward pays tribute to Mises for the anti-socialist impact that Mises’ Die Gemeinwirtschaft: Untersuchungen über den Sozialismus (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1922) created on many intellectuals after the First World War.

Dankadresse

– “Dankadresse.” In Erich Hoppmann, ed. Friedrich A. von Hayek. Baden—Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1980. pp. 37–42.

The Muddle of the Middle

– “Midju—Modid.” Frelsid (Journal of the Freedom Association of Iceland) 1 (1980): 6–15.

An Interview with F. A. Hayek

– “An Interview with F. A. Hayek.” Conducted by Richard E. Johns. The American Economic Council Report (May 1980.)

Free Choice of Currency Standards

– “Freie Wahl de Währungen.” In Geldpolitik, ed. by J. Badura and O. Issing. Stuttgart and New York, 1980, pp. 136–146.

Towards a Free Market Monetary System

– “Towards a Free Market Monetary System.” The Journal of Libertarian Studies 3, no. 1 (1979): 1–8.
When a little over two years ago, at the second Lausanne Conference  of this group, I threw out, almost as a sort of bitter joke, that there was no hope of ever again having decent money, unless we took from governments the monopoly of issuing money and… More

The Three Sources of Human Values

– “The Three Sources of Human Values.” The Hobhouse Lecture given at the London School of Economics, May 17, 1978. Published in the Epilogue to Law, Legislation and Liberty, Vol. III. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979

Exploitation of Workers by Workers

– “Exploitation of Workers by Workers.” The last of three talks given by Professor F. A. Hayek under the title, “The Market Economy” (Radio 3, BBC). The Listener (August 17, 1978): 202–203.

Can we still avoid inflation?

– “Can we still avoid inflation?” In Richard M. Ebeling (ed.) The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays. New York: Center for Libertarian Studies (Occasional Paper Series 8) 1978.
Excerpt: “In one sense the question asked in the title of this lecture is purely rhetorical. I hope none of you has suspected me of doubting even for a moment that technically there is no problem in stopping inflation. If the monetary authorities really… More

The Dethronement of Politics

– “Die Entthronung der Politik.” In Uberforderte Demokratie? hrsg. von D. Frei, Sozialwissenschaftliche Studien de schweizerischen Instituts für Auslandsforschung, N.F. 7, Zurich 1978.

Will the Democratic Ideal Prevail

– “Will the Democratic Ideal Prevail?” In Arthur Seldon, ed. The Coming Confrontation: Will the Open Society Survive to 1989? London: The Institute for Economic Affairs (Hobart Paperback No. 12), 1978, pp. 61–73.

The Miscarriage of the Democratic Ideal

– “The Miscarriage of the Democratic Ideal.” Encounter (March 1978).
Excerpt: “It is no longer possible to ignore that more and more thoughtful and well-meaning people are slowly losing their faith in what was to them once the inspiring ideal of democracy. This is happening at the same time as, and in perhaps partly in… More

Coping with Ignorance

– “Coping with Ignorance.” Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture. Imprimis (Hillsdale College) 7 (July 1978) 6 pp.
Excerpt: “It is to me not only a great honor but also the discharge of an intellectual duty and a real pleasure to be allowed to deliver a Ludwig von Mises memorial lecture. There is no single man to whom I owe more intellectually, even though he was… More

Liberalism

– "Liberalism," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics,  Economics and the History of Ideas, Routledge & Keagan Paul, London and Henley, 1982 [1978], pp. 119-151.
Excerpt: “The term is now used with a variety of meanings which have little in common beyond describing an openness to new ideas, including some which are directly opposed to those which are originally designated by it during the nineteenth and the… More

Economic Freedom and Representative Government

– "Economic Freedom and Representative Government," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978.
Excerpt: “Thirty years ago I wrote a book which, in a manner which many regarded as unduly alarmist, described the danger that the then visible collectivist tendencies created for personal freedom. I am glad that these fears have so far not… More

The Errors of Constructivism

– "The Errors of Constructivism," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978.
Excerpt: “It seemed to me necessary to introduce the term ‘constructivism’ as a specific name for a manner of thinking that in the past has often, but misleadingly, been described as ‘rationalism.’ The basic conception of this… More

Competition as a Discovery Procedure

– “Competition as a Discovery Procedure.” New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978.
Excerpt: “It is difficult to defend economists against the charge that for some 40 to 50 years they have been discussing competition on assumptions that, if they were true in the real world, would make it wholly uninteresting and useless. If anyone… More

Economics as a Coordination Problem

– Foreword by F. A. Hayek. In Economics as a Coordination Problem: The Contributions of Friedrich A. Hayek, ed. by Gerald P. O'Driscoll, Jr. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, Inc., 1977.
Foreword by Hayek: “To give a coherent account of the whole of the theoretical work of an economist who has not attempted to do so himself is sometimes a useful task. But the proof of its worthwhileness must be that the attempt at systematization leads… More

Remembering My Cousin Ludwig Wittgenstein

– “Remembering My Cousin Ludwig Wittgenstein.” Encounter (August 1977).
Excerpt: “Between the rails and the building of the railway station of Bad Ischl there used to be ample space where, sixty years ago, in the season, a regular promenade used to develop before the departure of the night train to Vienna. I believe it… More

The Problem of Money Today

– “Il Problema della Moneta Oggi.” Academia Nationale dei Lincei. Atti de Convegni Rome (1976).

Adam Smith’s Message in Today’s Language

– “Adam Smith's Message in Today's Language.” Daily Telegraph, London (March 9, 1976.)
Excerpt: “During the 40-odd years over which I have been lecturing on the history of economics, I have always found the lectures on Adam Smith particularly difficult to give. By the time one comes to him one has shown that most of the decisive insights… More

Socialism and Science

– "Socialism and Science," A Lecture delivered to The Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand on October 19, 1976.
Excerpt: “Socialism is related to Science in various ways. Probably the least interesting relation today is that from which Marxism  lays claim to the name of “scientific socialism”; and according to which by an inner necessity, and without men… More

Denationalisation of Money: An Analysis of the Theory and Practice of Concurrent Currencies

– Denationalisation of Money: An Analysis of the Theory and Practice of Concurrent Currencies. London: The Institute of Economic Affairs (Hobart Paper Special 70), October 1976, 107 pp.
Excerpt: “In my despair about the hopelessness of finding a politically feasible solution to what is technically the simplest possible problem, namely to stop inflation, I threw out in a lecture delivered about a year ago a somewhat startling… More

Choice in Currency: A Way to Stop Inflation

– Choice in Currency. A Way to Stop Inflation. London: Institute of Economic Affairs (Occasional Paper 48), February 1976/1977, 46 pp.
Excerpt: The chief root of our present monetary troubles is, of course, the sanction of scientific authority which Lord Keynes and his disciples have given to the age-old superstition that by increasing the aggregates of money expenditure we cannot lastingly… More

World Inflationary Recession

– “World Inflationary Recession.” Paper presented to the International Conference on World Economic Stabilization, April 17–18, 1975, co-sponsored by the First National Bank of Chicago and the University of Chicago. First Chicago Report 5/1975.

Politicians Can’t Be Trusted with Money

– “Politicians Can't Be Trusted with Money.” [(Newspaper editor's title. Paper delivered in September at the Gold and Monetary Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.) The Daily Telegraph of London, Part I (September 30, 1975).

Two Types of Mind

– “Types of Mind.” Encounter 45 (September 1975).
Excerpt: “Accident has drawn my attention to the contrast between two types of scientific thinking which I have since again and again been watching with growing fascination. I have long wished to describe the difference but have been deterred by the… More

The Formation of the Open Society

– “The Formation of the Open Society.” Address given by Professor Friedrich A. von Hayek at the University of Dallas Commencement Exercises, May 18, 1975. [Unpublished typescript, available at the Institute for Humane Studies.]

The Courage of His Convictions

– "The Courage of His Convictions.” In Tribute to Mises 1881–1973. The Session of the Mont Pélèrin Society at Brussels 1974 devoted to the Memory of Ludwig von Mises. Chislehurst, 1975.

Economics, Politics and Freedom: An Interview with F. A. Hayek

– “Economics, Politics & Freedom: An Interview with F. A. Hayek.” Interview conducted by Tibor Machan in Salzburg, Austria. Reason 6 (February 1975): 4–12.
Excerpt: “REASON is proud to present the highlights of this conversation, to give our readers a better appreciation of one of the intellectual giants of our time. REASON: Dr. Hayek, your book, The Road to Serfdom predicted serious problems for England… More

The Pretense of Knowledge

– “The Pretence of Knowledge.” An Alfred Nobel Memorial Lecture, delivered December 11, 1974 at the Stockholm School of Economics. In Les Prix Nobel en 1974. Stockholm: Nobel Foundation, 1975.
Excerpt: “The particular occasion of this lecture, combined with the chief practical problem which economists have to face today, have made the choice of its topic almost inevitable. On the one hand the still recent establishment of the Nobel Memorial… More

Full Employment at Any Price?

– Full Employment at Any Price? London: Institute of Economic Affairs (Occasional Paper 45), 1975/1978, (Italy 1975), 52 pp.

The Repercussions of Rent Restrictions

– "The Repercussions of Rent Restrictions,” in F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, et al. Rent Control: A Popular Paradox. Evidence on The Effects of Rent Control. Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1975, pp. 67–83.
Excerpt: “A unique feature of price control in housing compared with that in other goods and services is that wartime housing regulations have been retained and enforced ever since. The reason is not that housing is more “necessary” than, say, food,… More

Banquet Speech

– Speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1974.
Excerpt: Now that the Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science has been created, one can only be profoundly grateful for having been selected as one of its joint recipients, and the economists certainly have every reason for being grateful to the Swedish… More

Inflation: The Path to Unemployment

– “Inflation: The Path to Unemployment.” Addendum 2 to Lord Robbins et. al. Inflation: Causes, Consequences, Cures: Discourses on the Debate between the Monetary and the Trade Union Interpretations. London: The Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA Readings, No. 14), 1974, pp. 115–120.

Talk at the Mont Pélèrin

– “Talk at the Mont Pélèrin.” Newsletter of the Mont Pélèrin Society 3 (Luxembourg 1973).

The Place of Menger’s Grundsätze in the History of Economic Thought

– “The Place of Menger's Grundsätze in the History of Economic Thought.” In J. R. Hicks and W. Weber (eds.), Carl Menger and the Austrian School of Economics. Oxford, 1973, pp. 1–14
Excerpt: “When the Grundsatze  appeared in 1871, it was only 95 years since the Wealth of Nations, only 54 since Ricardo’s Principles, and a mere 23 it since the great restatements of classical economics by John Stuart Mill. It is well to begin… More

The Outlook for the 1970’s: Open or Repressed Inflation

– “The Outlook for the 1970's: Open or Repressed Inflation.” In Sudha R. Shenoy (ed.) A Tiger by the Tail: The Keynesian Legacy of Inflation. A 40-Years’ Running Commentary on Keynesianism. London: Institute of Economic Affairs (Hobart Paperback 4), 1972.
Excerpt: “In the last 40 years monetary policy has increasingly committed us to a development which has recurrently made necessary further measures that weakened the functioning of the market mechanism. We have now reached a point when it is widely… More

Economic Thought VI: The Austrian School

– “Economic Thought VI: The Austrian School.” In International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. Edited by David L. Sills. New York: The Macmillan Co. & Free Press, 1968, 1972; Volume 4, pp. 458–462.

A Tiger by the Tail: The Keynesian Legacy of Inflation

– A Tiger by the Tail: The Keynesian Legacy of Inflation. A 40 Years’ Running Commentary on Keynesianism by F. A. Hayek. Compiled and introduced by Sudha R. Shenoy. London: Institute of Economic Affairs (Hobart Paperback #4), 1972
Excerpt from Introduction: “The small book you are holding in your hands is unique. It is perhaps the finest introduction to the thought of a major thinker ever published in the discipline of economics. What makes it unique is the fact that it comprises… More

The Genius Of the West

– Louis Rougier. The Genius of the West. Introduction by F.A. v. Hayek. Los Angeles: Nash Publishing (published for the Principles of Freedom Committee), 1971.
To quote the book jacket: “Western Civilization is the result of a mentality which responds to the challenge of existence with intellectual force & courage. This mentality developed during the ages through a series of cumulative and convergent… More

Nature vs. Nurture Once Again

– “Nature vs. Nurture Once Again.” A comment on C. D. Darlington, The Evolution of Man and Society, London, 1962 in Encounter (February 1971).
Excerpt: “After his authoritative Genetics and Man, Dr. C.D. Darlington has now given us a magnificent account of The Evolution of Man and Society. This monumental work is bound to have great influence on many who will never trouble to study the former.… More

Principles or Expediency?

– “Principles or Expediency?” In Toward Liberty: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises on the Occasion of his 90th Birthday, September 29, 1971. Sponsoring Committee F. A. von Hayek et.al; F. A. Harper, Secretary. Menlo Park, California: Institute for Humane Studies, 1971, vol I, pp. 29–45.
Excerpt: “A condition of liberty in which all are allowed to use their own knowledge for their own purposes, restrained only by rules of just conduct of universal application, is likely to produce for them the best conditions for achieving their… More

The Primacy of the Abstract

– “The Primacy of the Abstract.” In Arthur Koestler and J. R. Smythies (eds.), Beyond Reductionism—The Alpbach Symposium. London, 1969.
Excerpt: “What I shall try to explain under this paradoxical heading seems to me in some ways merely a final step in a long development, which would probably have been explicitly formulated some time ago had it not required the overcoming of a barrier… More

Three Elucidations of the ‘Ricardo Effect’

– “Three Elucidations of the ‘Ricardo Effect’.” Journal of Political Economy 77 (March-April 1969): 274–285.
Excerpt: “The immediate aim of this paper is to clear up a point on which Sir John Hicks in his recent review of my earlier discussions of the relation between the demand for consumer goods and investment, is in error. It deserves careful analysis, as I… More

Scientism

– “Szientismus.” In W. Bernsdorf (ed.), Wörterbuch der Soziologie, Edited by W. Bernsdorf. 2nd ed. (Stuttgart, 1969).

The Trend of Economic Thinking

– “The Trend of Economic Thinking,” Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967/1969;  
Excerpt: “The position of the economists in the intellectual life of our time is unlike that of practitioners of any other branch of knowledge. Questions for whose solution his special knowledge is relevant are probably more frequently encountered than… More

Wieser, Friedrich von

– “Wieser, Friedrich von.” In International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. Edited by David L. Sills. New York: The Macmillan Co. & The Free Press, 1968, 1972; Volumes 15, 16, 17, pp. 549–550.

A Self-Generating Order for Society

– “A Self-Generating Order for Society.” In John Nef (ed.), Towards World Community. The Hague, 1968.
Excerpt: “It is very difficult to know where to begin when one would wish to comment on almost every preceding speaker. I am particularly tempted to make some remarks on the problem of the differences or similarities of the methods of the exact sciences… More

The Confusion of Language in Political Thought, With Some Suggestions for Remedying It

– The Confusion of Language in Political Thought, With Some Suggestions for Remedying It. London: Institute of Economic Affairs (Occasional Paper 20), 1968/1976, 36 pp.
Excerpt: “Modern civilization has given man undreamt powers largely because, without understanding it, he has developed methods of utilizing more knowledge and resources than any one mind is aware of. The fundamental condition from which any intelligent… More

Legal Order and Commercial Order

– “Rechtsordnung und Handelnsordnung.” In Eric Streissler (ed.), Zur Einheit der Rechts-und Staatswissenschaften, Vol. 27. Karlsruhe, 1967.

The Results of Human Action but not of Human Design

– Résultats de l'action des hommes mais non de leurs desseins.” In: Les Fondements Philosophiques des Systèmes Economiques. Textes de Jacques Rueff et essais rédiges en son honneur. (Paris 1967).
Excerpt: “The belief in the superiority of deliberate design and planning over the spontaneous forces of society enters European thought explicitly only through the rationalist constructivism of Descartes. But it has its sources in a much older… More

Dr. Bernard Mandeville

– “Dr. Bernard Mandeville.” Proceedings of the British Academy 52 (1966), London 1967.
Excerpt: “It is to be feared that not only would most of Bernard Mandeville’s contemporaries turn in their graves if they could know that he is today presented as a mastermind to this August body, but even that now there may have been some raising… More

The Economy, Science and Politics

– "The Economy, Science and Politics,” Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967/1969,  pp.251-269.
Excerpt: “In spite of the fact that at least the first half of my career as an economist has been fully devoted to pure theory, and because I have since devoted much time to subjects entirely outside the field of economics, I do welcome the prospect… More

The Principles of a Liberal Social Order

– “The Principles of a Liberal Social Order.” Il Politico 31, no. 4 (December 1966): 601–618.
Excerpt: “It should be specially emphasized that the two political philosophies which both describe themselves as “liberalism” and lead in a few respects to similar conclusions, rest on altogether different philosophical foundations. The first is… More

Personal Recollections of Keynes and the ‘Keynesian Revolution’

– “Personal Recollections of Keynes and the ‘Keynesian Revolution’.” The Oriental Economist 34 (Tokyo, January 1966).
Excerpt: “Even to those who knew Keynes but could never bring themselves to accept his monetary theories, and at times thought his pronouncements somewhat irresponsible, the personal impression of the man remains unforgettable. And especially to my… More

Kinds of Rationalism

– “Kinds of Rationalism.” The Economic Studies Quarterly 15, no. 3 (Tokyo, 1965).
Excerpt: “In the course of my critical examination of certain dominance beliefs of our time I have sometimes had to make a difficult choice. It often happens that quite specific demands are labeled by a perfectly good word which in its more general… More

Commerce, History of

– Parts of “Commerce, History of.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. VI. Chicago: 1964.

The Theory of Complex Phenomena

– “The Theory of Complex Phenomena.” In Mario A. Bunge (ed.) The Critical Approach to Science and Philosophy: Essays in Honor of Karl R. Popper. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc., 1964.
Excerpt: “Man has been impelled to scientific inquiry by wonder and by need. Of these wonder has been in comparably more fertile. There are good reasons for this. Where we wonder we have already a question to ask. But however urgently we may want to… More

The Legal and Political Philosophy of David Hume

– “The Legal and Political Philosophy of David Hume.” Il Politico 28, no. 4 (December 1963): 691–704.
Excerpt: “It is always misleading to label an age by a name which suggests that it was ruled by a common set of ideas. It particularly falsifies the picture if we do this for a period which was in such a state of ferments as was the eighteenth century.… More

Introduction to “The Earlier Letters of John Stuart Mill.”

– Introduction to “The Earlier Letters of John Stuart Mill.” In F.E. Mineka, ed. John Stuart Mill, Vol. XII. Toronto: Toronto University Press and London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963.
Excerpt: “John Stuart Mill has not been altogether fortunate in the manner in which his memory was served by those most concerned and best authorized to honour it. It is true that his stepdaughter, heir, and literary executor, Helen Taylor, promptly… More

Right, Law, and Economic Freedom

– “Recht, Gesetz und Wirtschaftsfreiheit.” In: Hundert Jahre Industrie und Handelskammer zu Dortmund 1863–1963. Dortmund, 1963.

Kinds of Order in Society

– “Arten der Ordnung.” Ordo 14 (1963).
Excerpt: “We call a multitude of men a society when their activities are mutually adjusted to one another. Men in society can successfully pursue their ends because they know what to expect from their fellows. Their relations, in other words, show a… More

Old Truths and New Errors

– “Alte Wahrheiten und neue Irrtümer.” In: Internationales Institut der Sparkassen, ed. Das Sparwesen der Welt, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of Savings Banks. Amsterdam: 1963.

Rules, Perception and Intelligibility

– “Rules, Perception and Intelligibility.” Proceedings of the British Academy 48 (1962), London, 1963, pp. 321–344.
Excerpt: “The most striking instance of the phenomenon from which we shall start is the ability of small children to use language in accordance with the rules of grammar and idiom of which they are wholly unaware. “Perhaps there is”, Edward Sapir… More

The Uses of ‘Gresham’s Law’ as an Illustration of ‘Historical Theory’

– “The Uses of ‘Gresham's Law’ as an Illustration of ‘Historical Theory’.” History and Theory 1 (1962).
Excerpt: “Mr. A. L. Burns’ use of Gresham’s Law as an illustration provides a good example for showing how useful it would be for the historian if he examined what Gresham’s Law amounts to as a theoretical statement and not merely as… More

The Vienna School

– “Wiener Schule.” Handwörterbuch der Sozialwissenschaften 12 (Stuttgart-Tübingen-Göttingen, 1962).

The Moral Element in Free Enterprise

– “The Moral Element in Free Enterprise.” In: National Association of Manufacturers (eds.) The Spiritual and Moral Significance of Free Enterprise. New York: 1962.
Excerpt: “Economic activity provides the material means for all our ends. At the same time, most of our individual efforts are directed to providing means for the ends of others in order that they, in turn, may provide us with the means for our ends. It… More

The ‘Non Sequitur’ of the ‘Dependence Effect’

– “The ‘Non Sequitur’ of the ‘Dependence Effect’.” The Southern Economic Journal 27 (April 1961).
Excerpt: “For well over a hundred years the critics of the free enterprise system have resorted to the argument that if production were only organized rationally, there would be no economic problem. Rather than face the problem which scarcity creates,… More

What is ‘Social’—What Does It Mean?

– “What is ‘Social’—What Does It Mean?” Translated in an unauthorized English translation in Freedom and Serfdom (ed. A. Hunold), Dordrecht, 1961.
Excerpt: “Except in the fields of philology and logic, there are probably few cases in which one would be justified in devoting a whole article to the meaning of a single word. Sometimes, however, such a little word not only throws light upon the… More

The Case for Freedom

– "The Case for Freedom." The Freeman (October 1960). Reprinted from The Constitution of Liberty (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960).
Excerpt: “What is the problem we wish to solve when we try to construct a rational economic order? On certain familiar assumptions the answer is simple enough. If we possess all the relevant information, if we can start out from a given system of… More

Why I Am Not a Conservative

– In The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960)
Excerpt: At a time when most movements that are thought to be progressive advocate further encroachments on individual liberty, those who cherish freedom are likely to expend their energies in opposition. In this they find themselves much of the time on the… More

The Corporation in a Democratic Society: In Whose Interest Ought It and Will It Be Run?

– “The Corporation in a Democratic Society: In Whose Interest Ought It and Will It Be Run?” In: M. Anshen and G. L. Bach (eds.)Management and Corporations 1985. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.
Excerpt: “My thesis will be that if we want effectively to limit the powers of corporations to where they are beneficial, we shall have to confine them much more than we have yet done to one specific goal, that of the profitable use of capital entrusted… More

Freedom, Reason and Tradition

– “Freedom, Reason and Tradition.” Proceedings of the 16th Annual Meeting: The Western Conference of Prepaid Medical Service Plans, (Winnipeg 1960).

The Social Environment

– “The Social Environment.” In B. H. Bagdikian (ed.) Man's Contracting World in an Expanding Universe Providence, R.I.: 1960.

The Economics of Abundance

– “The Economics of Abundance,” in Henry Hazlitt, ed. The Critics of Keynesian Economics. Princeton and London: Van Nostrand Co., 1960, pp. 126–130.
Excerpt: “Now in such a situation, in which abundant unused reserves of all kinds of resources, including all intermediate products, exist, may occasionally prevail in the depths of the depression. But it is certainly not a normal position on which a… More

On Röpke

– “An Röpke.” In Wilhelm Röpke, Gegen die Brandung. Zürich: E. Rentsch, 1959.

Responsibility and Freedom

– “Verantwortlichkeit und Freiheit.” In: Albert Hunold (ed.) Erziehung zur Freiheit. Erlenbach-Zürich: E. Rentsch, 1959: 147–170.

Unions, Inflation and Profits

– “Unions, Inflation and Profits.” In: Philip D. Bradley (ed.) The Public Stake in Union Power. Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press: 1959.
Excerpt: “Tendencies are observable in the field of labor economics which most seriously threaten our future prosperity. The developments which are bringing this about are not of recent dates. They extend at least over the last twenty-five years. But… More

Liberalism

– “Liberalismus (1) Politischer Liberalismus.” Handwörterbuch der Sozialwissenschaften 6 (Stuttgart-Tübingen-Göttingen, 1959).
Excerpt: The term is now used with a variety of meanings which have little in common beyond describing an openness to new ideas, including some which are directly opposed to those which are originally designated  by it during the 19th and the earlier parts… More

The Reality of a Teaching

– “Attualitá di un insegnamento,” In: Angelo Dalle Molle, ed. Il Maestro dell’ Economia di Domani (Festschrift for Luigi Einaudi on his 85th Birthday). Verona, 1958, pp. 20–24.

Freedom, Reason, and Tradition

– “Freedom, Reason, and Tradition.” Ethics 68 (1958).
Excerpt: “Though freedom is not a state of nature but an artifact of civilization, it did not arise as a result of design. The institutions of freedom, like all that freedom has created, were not established because people foresaw the benefits they… More

The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization

– “The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization.” In: Felix Morley (ed.) Essays in Individuality. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958.
Excerpt: “The socratic maxim that the recognition of our ignorance is the beginning of wisdom has a profound application to social life. If we are to comprehend how society works we must first become aware, not merely of our individual ignorance of… More

Inflation Resulting from the Downward Inflexibility of Wages

– “Inflation Resulting from the Downward Inflexibility of Wages.” In: Committee for Economic Development (ed.) Problems of United States Economic Development, New York: 1958, Vol. I, pp. 147–152.
Excerpt: “Contrary to what is widely believed, the crucial results of the “Keynesian revolution” is the general acceptance of a factual assumption and, what is more, of an assumption which becomes true as a result of it being generally accepted. The… More

Review of Mill and His Early Critics

– Review of Mill and His Early Critics by J.C. Rees. Leicester: University College of Leicester, 1956. In Journal of Modern History (June 1957): 54.

The Dilemma of Specialization

– “The Dilemma of Specialization.” In Leonard D. White (ed.) The State of the Social Sciences. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956.
Excerpt: “We have been commemorating the foundation of a research centre within our University, and our thoughts have inevitably often touched upon the problem of the relation between research and education, and of education for research. It may… More

Progressive Taxation Reconsidered

– “Progressive Taxation Reconsidered.” In: Mary Sennholz (ed.) On Freedom and Free Enterprise: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises. Princeton: D. von Nostrand Co., 1956
Excerpt: “Among the measures of economic policy which are gradually transforming our society and producing far-reaching results which few people yet clearly grasp, few are as firmly established and as widely accepted as the redistribution of income by… More

Comments

– “Comments.” In: Congress for Cultural Freedom (ed.) Science and Freedom. London: (Proceedings of the Hamburg Conference of the Congress for Cultural Freedom) 1955.

Degrees of Explanation

– “Degrees of Explanation.” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 6, no. 23 (1955): 209–225.
Excerpt: “The discussion of scientific method has been guided almost entirely by the example of classical physics. The reason for this is mainly that certain features of the scientific method can be most easily illustrated by instances from this field,… More

Capitalism and the Historians

– Capitalism and the Historians. Edited and introduced by F. A. Hayek. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, and Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954.
Excerpt: “The influence which the writers of history thus exercise on public opinion is probably more immediate and extensive than that of the political theorists who launch new ideas. It seems as though even such new ideas reach wider circles usually… More

Substitute for Foreign Aid

– “Substitute for Foreign Aid.” The Freeman 3 (April 6, 1953): 482–484.
Excerpt: “For the time being financing for rearmament has in a large measure taken the place of other forms of capital movements to Europe. But this provides only a partial and temporary solution to the problem with which in recent years this country… More

Decline of the Rule of Law. Part I

– “Decline of the Rule of Law. Part I.” The Freeman 3 (April 20, 1953): 518–520; Part II The Freeman 3 (May 4, 1953): 561–563.

The Actonian Revival

– “The Actonian Revival.” Review of Lord Acton by Gertrude Himmelfarb and Acton's Political Philosophy by G. E. Fasnacht. The Freeman3 (March 23, 1953): 461–462.

Leftist Foreign Correspondent

– “Leftist Foreign Correspondent.” The Freeman 3 (January 12, 1953): 275.
Excerpt: “The editorial comments of The Freeman on the apparent professional bias of foreign correspondents tempt me to set down on paper some observations which have long puzzled me. Why should foreign correspondents almost everywhere tend to have a… More

Friedrich Freiherr von Wieser

– “Friedrich Freiherr von Wieser” The Development of Economic Thought: Great Economists in Perspective. Edited by Henry William Spiegel. New York & London: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1952, 1961, pp. 554–567.]
Commemorative article on the occasion of the death of Hayek’s Austrian School of economics mentor, von Wieser (1851–1926).

Equality and Justice

– “Gleichheit und Gerechtigkeit.” Jahresbericht der Züricher Volkswirt-schaftlichen Gesellschaft (1951).

The Ideals of Economic Freedom: A Liberal Inheritance

– “The Ideals of Economic Freedom: A Liberal Inheritance,” in The Owl (London 1951), pp. 7–12.
Excerpt: “At the end of the First World War the spiritual tradition of liberalism was all but dead. True, it was still uppermost in the thoughts of many a leading figure of public and business life, many of whom belonged to a generation which took… More

Comte and Hegel

– “Comte and Hegel.” Measure 2 (Chicago, July 1951).
Excerpt: “The discussions of every age are filled with the issues on which its leading schools of thought differ. But the general intellectual atmosphere of the time is always determined by the views on which the opposing schools agree. They become the… More

Full Employment, Planning and Inflation

– “Full Employment, Planning and Inflation.” Institute of Public Affairs Review 4 (6) (Melbourne, Australia 1950).
Excerpt: “In the five years that have elapsed since the war, central planning, “full employment,” and inflationary pressure  have been the three features which have dominated economic policy in the greater parts of the world. Of these only full… More

Ricardo, David

– “Ricardo, David.” Chambers’ Encyclopaedia 11 (Oxford 1950).

Economics

– “Economics.” Chambers’ Encyclopaedia 4 (Oxford 1950).

The Intellectuals and Socialism

– “The Intellectuals and Socialism.” The University of Chicago Law Review 16, no. 3 (Spring 1949): 417–433.
Excerpt: “In all democratic countries, in the United States even more than elsewhere, a strong belief prevails that the influence of the intellectuals on politics is negligible. This is no doubt true of the power of intellectuals to make their peculiar… More

Man in the Planned Economy

– “Der Mensch in der Planwirtschaft.” In Simon Moser (ed.) Weltbild und Menschenbild. Innsbruck and Vienna: 1948.

Full Employment

– “Le plein emploi.” Economie Appliquée 1, no. 2–3, (Paris, 1948): 197–210.

The London School of Economics 1895–1945

– “The London School of Economics 1895–1945.” Economica N.S. 13 (February 1946): 1–31.
Excerpt: “In October, 1945, the London School of Economics and Political Science completed its 50th year. It had been hoped that this event would be marked by the publication of a full history of the School, which would have made an interesting… More

Fuld Beskaeftigelse

– “Fuld Beskaeftigelse.” Nationalökonomisk Tidsskrift 84 (1946): 1–31.

Individualism: True and False

– Individualism: True and False. (The Twelfth Finlay Lecture, delivered at University College, Dublin, on December 17, 1945.) Dublin: Hodges, Figgis & Co. Ltd. 1946; and Oxford: B. H. Blackwell Ltd. 1946, 38 pp.
Excerpt: “To advocate any clear-cut principles of social order today is an almost certain way to incur the stigma of being an unpractical doctrinaire. It has come to be regarded as the sign of the judicious mind that in social matters one does not… More

Notes on N.W. Senior’s Political Economy’ by John Stuart Mill

– Edited: “‘Notes on N.W. Senior's Political Economy’ by John Stuart Mill.” Economica N.S. 12 (1945): 134–139.
Excerpt: “The following notes are reproduced from an interleaved copy of the first (quarto) edition of N.W. Senior’s Outline of the Science of Political Economy.”

Time-Preference and Productivity: A Reconsideration

– “Time-Preference and Productivity: A Reconsideration.” Economica, N.S. no. 4, 12 (February 1945): 22–25.
Excerpt: “The question I wish here to reconsider is in the 1st instance the purely theoretical one of the relative importance, in determining the marginal productivity of investment, of the productivity schedule on the one hand and the so-called time… More

The Use of Knowledge in Society

– “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” American Economic Review 35 (September 1945): 519–530.
Excerpt: “What is the problem we wish to solve when we try to construct a rational economic order? On certain familiar assumptions the answer is simple enough  if we possess all the relevant information, if we can start out from a given system of… More

Richard von Strigl

– “Richard von Strigl” (Obituary). Economic Journal 54 (1944): 284–286.
Strigl, who died in 1944, was a “Neo-Austrian” involved in developing the theory of saving and investment and analyzing monopolistic competition theory.

The Case of the Tyrol

– The Case of the Tyrol. London: Committee on Justice for the South Tyrol, 1944.

The Geometrical Representation of Complementarity

– “The Geometrical Representation of Complementarity.” Review of Economic Studies 10 (1942–1943): 122–125.
Excerpt: “Geometrical representation of complementarity encounters difficulties because complementarity involves a relationship between the three commodities and three-dimensional diagrams are notoriously difficult to handle. A family of indifference… More

The Facts of the Social Sciences

– “The Facts of the Social Sciences.” Ethics 54 (October 1943).
Excerpt: “There there exists today no commonly accepted term to describe the group of disciplines with which we shall be concerned in this paper. The term “moral sciences,” in the sense in which John Stuart Mill used it, did approximately cover the… More

A Commodity Reserve Currency

– “A Commodity Reserve Currency.” Economic Journal 53 (1943).
Excerpt: “The gold standard as we knew it undoubtedly have some grave defects. But there is some danger that the sweeping condemnation of it which is now the fashion may have secure the fact that it’s also had some important virtues which most of… More

John Stuart Mill, The Spirit of the Age

– John Stuart Mill, The Spirit of the Age. Introduced by F.A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942.
Hayek’s Introduction is entitled, “John Stuart Mill at the Age of Twenty-Four,” and surveys Mill’s intellectual development at the time of Mill’s famous essay, “The Spirit of the Age,” which represented important deviations from… More

Scientism and the Study of Society

– “Scientism and the Study of Society.” Part I: Economica N.S. 9 (1942). Part II: Economica 10 (1943). Part III: Economica 11 (1944).
Excerpt: “In the course of its slow development in the 18th and early 19th centuries the study of economic and social phenomena was guided in the choice of its methods in the main by the nature of the problems it had to face. It gradually developed a… More

The Ricardo Effect

– “The Ricardo Effect.” Economica N.S. 9 (1942).
Excerpt: “When in a recent essay on industrial fluctuations the author introduced “the familiar Ricardian proposition that a rise in wages will encourage capitalists to substitute machinery for labor,” this was done under the illusion that thus an… More

Planning, Science and Freedom

– “Planning, Science and Freedom.” Nature 148 (November 15, 1941).
Excerpt: “The last ten years have witnessed in Great Britain a strong revival of a movement that for at least three generations has been a decisive force in the formation of opinion and the trend of social affairs in Europe: the movement for… More

Maintaining Capital Intact: A Reply to Professor Pigou

– “Maintaining Capital Intact: A Reply [to Professor Pigou.]” Economica N.S. 8 (1941): 276–280.
Excerpt: “Professor Pigou’s defense of the conception of “maintaining capital intact” consists essentially of two parts. The first is a restatement of his own attempt to define its meaning. The second is a plea that’s, even if this… More

The Counter-Revolution of Science

– “The Counter-Revolution of Science.” Parts I-III. Economica N.S. 8 (February - August 1941): 281–320.
Excerpt: “In the course of its slow development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the study of economic and social phenomena was guided in the choice of its methods in the main by the nature of the problems that it had to face. It… More

Socialist Calculation: The Competitive ‘Solution’

– “Socialist Calculation: The Competitive ‘Solution’.” Economica N.S. 7 (May 1940): 125–149.
Excerpt: “Two chapters in the discussion of the economics of socialism may now be regarded as closed. The first deals with the belief that socialism will dispense entirely with calculation in terms of value and will replace it with some sort of… More

An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain

– Henry Thornton. An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain (1802). Edited and introduced by Friedrich A. Hayek. London: Allen and Unwin, 1939.
Excerpt: “To most of the contemporaries of Henry Thornton his authorship of the book which is now reprinted after one hundred and thirty-six years would by no means have been regarded as his major titles to fame. To them the fact that he was a… More

Economic Conditions of Inter-State Federation

– “Economic Conditions of Inter-State Federation.” New Commonwealth Quarterly 5 (London, 1939).
Excerpt: “It is rightly regarded as one of the great advantages of inter-state federation that it would do away with the impediments as to the movement of men, goods, and capital between the states and that would render possible the creation of common… More

The Maintenance of Capital

– “The Maintenance of Capital,” Profits, Interest and Investment: and Other Essays on The Theory on Industrial Fluctuations. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1939.
Excerpt: “The significance of the problem. It is not likely that in the whole field of economics there are many more concepts which are at the same time so generally used and so little analyzed as that of a “constant amounts of capital.” But while… More

Price Expectations, Monetary Disturbances and Malinvestments

– “Price Expectations, Monetary Disturbances and Malinvestments," Profits, Interest and Investment: and Other Essays on The Theory on Industrial Fluctuations. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1939.
Excerpt: “The most characteristic feature of the work of our generation of economists is probably the general endeavor to apply the methods and results of the pure theory of equilibrium to the elucidation of more complicated “dynamic” phenomena.… More

The Paradox of Saving

– "The Paradox of Saving," Profits, Interest and Investment: and Other Essays on The Theory on Industrial Fluctuations. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1939.
Excerpt: “The assertion that saving renders the purchasing power of the consumer insufficient to take up the volume of current production, although made more often by members of the lay public van by professional economists, is almost as old as the… More

Freedom and the Economic System

– “Freedom and the Economic System.” Contemporary Review (April 1938).
Excerpt: The link between classical liberalism and present-day Socialism — often still misnamed liberalism — is undoubtedly the belief that the consummation of individual freedom requires relief from the most pressing economic cares. If this seems… More

The Gold Problem

– “Das Goldproblem.” Österreichische Zeitschrift für Bankwesen 2 (1937).

Investment that Raises the Demand for Capital

– “Investment that Raises the Demand for Capital.” Review of Economic Statistics 19 (November 1937).
Excerpt: “The purpose of this article is to state a proposition which underlies the modern “monetary over-investment theories” of the trade cycle in a form in which, as far as I know, it has never before been expressed but which seems to… More

Economics and Knowledge

– “Economics and Knowledge.” Economica N.S. 4 (February 1937): 33–54.
Excerpt: “The ambiguity of the title of this paper is not accidental. Its main subject is of course the role which assumptions and propositions about the knowledge possessed by the different members of society play in economic analysis. But this is by… More

The International Monetary Situation

– “La situation monétaire internationale.” Bulletin Périodique de la Societé Belge d'Études et d'Expansion (Brussels), No. 103. (1936).

The Mythology of Capital

– “The Mythology of Capital.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 50 (1936): 199–228.
Excerpt: “Professor Knight’s crusade against the concept of the period of investment revives a controversy which attracted much attention thirty and forty years ago but was not satisfactorily settled at that time. In his attack he uses very… More

Economic Planning in Soviet Russia

– Boris Brutzkus. Economic Planning in Soviet Russia. Edited and prefaced by Friedrich A. Hayek. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1935; xvii, 234 pp.
From a review: These two volumes, together with a translation (yet to appear) of Mises’ Die Gemeinwirtschaft, constitute a formidable counterattack by laissez-faire on all forms of planning, and in particular on socialism. The economic impossibility of… More

Collectivist Economic Planning: Critical Studies on the Possibilities of Socialism

– Collectivist Economic Planning: Critical Studies on the Possibilities of Socialism. Edited with an Introduction and a Concluding Essay by F. A. Hayek. Contributions by N. G. Pierson, Ludwig von Mises, Georg Halm, and Enrico Barone. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1935.
Excerpt: “There is reason to believe that we are at last entering an era of reasoned discussion of what has long uncritically been assumed to be a reconstruction of society on rational lines. For more than half a century, the belief that deliberate… More

Edwin Cannan

– “Edwin Cannan” (Obituary). Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie 6 (1935): 246–250.

A Regulated Gold Standard

– “A Regulated Gold Standard.” The Economist (May 11, 1935).
Excerpt: “It is still impossible to predict when conditions will make a solution of international currency problems appear practicable. This does not mean that it is too early to ask what sort of system we really want, and we can begin to survey the… More

Saving

– “Saving.” Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1934. Vol. 13, pp. 548–552.

Philippovich, Eugen von

– “Philippovich, Eugen von.” Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1934. Vol. 12, p. 116.

Carl Menger

– “Carl Menger.” Economica N.S. 1 (November 1934): 393–420.
Excerpt: “The history of economics is full of tales of forgotten forerunners, men whose work had no effect and was only rediscovered after their main ideas had been made popular by others, of remarkable coincidences of simultaneous discoveries, and of… More

Capital and Industrial Fluctuations

– “Capital and Industrial Fluctuations.” Econometrica 2 (April 1934): 152–167.
Excerpt: A sympathetic criticism of the kind to which the views of the present author have been subjected by Messrs Hansen and Tout in a recent issue of ECONOMETRICA, offers a welcome  opportunity of clearing up some points upon which I have obviously not… More

Contributions on Monetary Theory

– Beiträge zur Geldtheorie. Edited and prefaced by Friedrich A. Hayek. Contributions by Marco Fanno, Marius W. Holtrop, Johan G. Koopmans, Gunnar Myrdal, Knut Wicksell. Vienna, 1933.

Norman, George W.

– “Norman, George W.” Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1933. Vol. 2.

Macleod, Henry D.

– “Macleod, Henry D.” Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1933. Vol. 2, p. 30.

Gossen, Hermann Heinrich

– “Gossen, Hermann Heinrich.” Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1932. Vol. 7, p. 3.

Capital Consumption

– “Kapitalaufzehrung.” Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 36 (July 1932/II): 86–108.

A Note on the Development of the Doctrine of ‘Forced Saving’

– “A Note on the Development of the Doctrine of ‘Forced Saving’.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 47 (November 1932): 123–133.
Excerpt: “The enhanced interest in the problem of “forced saving,” due to recent developments in the theory of industrial fluctuations, has led to the discovery of so many more or less distinct allusions to that subject in the works of earlier… More

Money and Capital: A Reply to Mr. Sraffa

– "Money and Capital: A Reply to Mr. Sraffa.” Economic Journal 42 (June 1932): 237–249  
Excerpt: “With an article devoted to a critical discussion of my Prices and Production, Mr. Sraffa has recently entered the arena of monetary controversy. There is no denying the fact that reviewing books on money, at a time when monetary theory is in a… More

The Laws of Human Relationships and of the Rules to be Derived Therefrom for Human Action

– Hermann Heinrich Gossen. Entwicklung der Gesetze des menschlichen Verkehrs und der daraus fliessenden Regeln für menschliches Handeln. Introduced by Friedrich A. Hayek. 3rd edition. Berlin: Prager, 1927, xxiii, 278 pp.
“The Laws of Human Relationships and of the Rules to be Derived Therefrom for Human Action.” Cf.: A-15. Gossen’s (1810–1858) fame rests on this one book, first published in 1854, in which he developed a comprehensive theory of the hedonistic… More