Comments on: Friedrich August Hayek (1899-1992), The Road to Serfdom (1944)

By: Misleading visions of the economy « Freethinking Economist

Misleading visions of the economy « Freethinking Economist — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:24:33 +0000

[...] in thought-provoking mood. In what seems to be becoming a series (there’s an earlier one on Hayek), they have brought in a discussion of Robert Nozik, and in particular his famous Wilt Chamberlain [...]

By: Barry Stocker

Barry Stocker — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:42:43 +0000

I think Thatcher’s ‘this is what we believe’ moment was in private and referred to Hayek’s later ‘Constitution of Liberty’. Thatcher queered the pitch for us by doing that, and Hayek queered the pitch himself by becoming more socially conservative and sympathetic to limitations on democracy. The idea of a dramatic moment in which Clegg announced Lib Dem alignment with thorough going classical liberalism is great, but the party is not ready for that. It’s up to us to make classical liberal/libertarian ideas more widely known and understood, and gradually shift the terms of debate. We already have Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ as a party ‘bible’. While we should be careful about elevating any one text to cultic status, ‘On Liberty’ is a very good statement of the sort of things LV people believe, though some would like to go further down the non or minimal state road. If we want to coalesce around one text it should be ‘On Liberty’, no one can argue it’s some strange import to the party. ‘The Road to Serfdom’ is fairly close to being a 20th Century equivalent, and we should certainly make it better known to LD people.

By: Julian H

Julian H — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:55:39 +0000

If he doesn’t, there’ll be trouble.

By: Giles Smedley

Giles Smedley — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:47:59 +0000

Nice article. Are we, then, to seek Clegg stride into the Commons soon and thump Hayekian volumes down on the dispatch box in a Thatcheresque ‘this is what we believe’ drama ?