LYCOS RETRIEVER
Friedrich A. Hayek: Books
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Hayek was worried that people would support their concept that government involvement in all parts of life was the signal of the future. Hayek’s whole book is an argument against such concepts and an effort, mostly proven, that active government development of peoples lifestyles and economies is a bad idea that may lead straightly to the empty mindless pit of communism and fascism. People should be cautious when supporting a role for central government in economies and in other areas where they impact upon public freedom. He states that there is no active and positive task for governments in economies. This is made simple by Hayek when he states that the "state planning of economies" must be avoided.
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Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992) was one of the twentieth century's seminal thinkers. He was an economist in the Austrian tradition and studied under Ludwig von Mises. (Although he is often grouped with von Mises, he was not the consistent libertarian that von Mises was.) THE FATAL CONCEIT was Hayek's final work, and was put together from a manuscript by the late W. W. Bartley, III (who is named as "editor" of the work.) This book is timely in that it was written at the tail end of the communist age and provided Hayek with an opportunity to reflect on the failure the socialist revolution.
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When not lecturing throughout the world, Hayek devoted himself entirely to the completion of his next work, significantly entitled The Fatal Conceit. This book presents a most important fundamental critique of rationalism, socialism, and constructivism. Hayek's career as scholar and teacher was international, and he held honorary degrees from universities all over the world. Among his honors, awards, and orders, he received the Order Pour le Merite from Germany and in 1984 the Companion of Honour from Britain.
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In the early 1980s Hayek began writing what would be his final book, a critique of socialism. Because his health was deteriorating, another scholar, philosopher William W. Bartley III, helped edit the ultimate volume, The Fatal Conceit, which was published in 1988. Hayek died four years later, having lived long enough to see the reunification of Germany.
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Hayek presented his main treatise on monetary cycle theory in a slim book, Prices and Production (1931), in England and was immediately drafted by Lord Robbins to join the L.S.E. - where he would serve as that institution's answer to Cambridge's John Maynard Keynes who was then working on similar issues. Keynes did not take lightly the criticisms Hayek made of his Treatise on Money (1930), and ... Keynes and Sraffa joined forces to bury Hayek and his cycle theory in the Economic Journal in 1932.
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In a rebuke to modern sensibilities, Hayek repudiated the tendency of individuals and societies to blame others for their problems and declared the concepts of liberty and responsibility "inseparable." In his 1960 book, "The Constitution of Liberty," he explored this theme at length: "Liberty not only means that the individual has both the opportunity and the burden of choice; it ... means that he must bear the consequences of his actions and will receive praise or blame for them." Taking charge of one's life is an "unceasing task," Hayek wrote, which explains why "many people are afraid of liberty."
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