Abstract: Friedrich August von Hayek was one of this century’s most productive economists.
His many publications span more than sixty years. Initially his interest was primarily
on economics in the narrower sense and his early works show a consistent emphasis
on price-theoretic questions, for example in business cycle theory (Hayek 1933) and
capital theory (Hayek 1941). The focus of his writings shifted significantly as a result
of the political turmoil and the increasing influence of totalitarian ideas that characterized the 1920s and 1930s. This is nowhere more evident than in his dramatic
warning in 1944 of the dangers inherent in embarking on the road to serfdom
(Hayek 1944). From the 1950s onwards Hayek elaborated on what may be considered this century’s most significant contribution to social philosophy. The key
element in this contribution is a theory of civilization which, in turn, builds on an
economic foundation: the theory of the spontaneous order of the markets as it
emerged under conditions of freedom and the rule of law.
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-09-11
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 12
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot