Today May 8 is the birthday of Friedrich August von Hayek (1899-1992). History will probably judge him the greatest philosopher of freedom ever.
To him, socialism meant The Road to Serfdom.
Since we Indians live in a ‘planned economy’, we would all benefit greatly from a study of Hayek’s “The Use of Knowledge in Society”.
Here, he shows how the critical problem facing us is NOT the ‘allocation of resources’ (many resources lie idle anyway) but the utilization of all the little bits of knowledge and information that all of us individually possess.
Only in Liberty can all these ‘fragmented’ bits of knowledge be used.
Central economic planning is bound to fail because knowledge cannot be centralized. Planning suffers from ‘the delusion of knowledge’.
(And the planners want to teach!)
Margaret Thatcher was deeply influenced by Hayek. Here she is referring to him in a House of Commons debate:
“I am a great admirer of Professor Hayek. Some of his books are absolutely supreme—"The Constitution of Liberty" and the three volumes on "Law, Legislation and Liberty"—and would be well read by almost every hon. Member.”
Hear, hear.
(Read the entire debate here.)
Click here for a good biography.
And a very happy birthday to Shruti – the lucky girl who shares her birthday with such a great man.
Incidentally, May 5 was Karl Marx’s birthday and we didn’t see any of our Marxists celebrating.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Happy Birthday Hayek - and Shruti
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Hayek believed in Social Security.Don't you think he is a traitor to the laissez faire genre?
ReplyDeleteThe 2nd volume of Hayek's "Law, Legislation & Liberty" is entitled "The Mirage of Social Justice".
ReplyDeleteHere, he demolished the very idea of 'social justice' and uphelp the classical liberal concept of an 'equal justice' - where the same general rules apply to all.
No, he is not a 'traitor to the laissez faire genre'.
He is the greatest philosopher of freedom ever.