Friedrich Hayek

Friedrich August von Hayek (1889-1992) was an economist of the Austrian School noted for his defense of free-market capitalism against left-wing economic thought.

Hayek turned in 1944 to the political arena with his Road to Serfdom, a polemical defense of laissez-faire capitalism against socialism, which influenced people across the political spectrum. His subsequent political activities include the foundation of the libertarian Mont Pelerin Society in 1947, whose original membership included several socialists.

Hayek's work was initially ignored in the Keynesian mainstream which then dominated economics, but interest in his writings began to increase after his 1974 Nobel award and became prominent during the 1980s and 1990s with the triumph of economically liberal right-leaning governments in the United States and Great Britain (Margaret Thatcher, British prime minister from 1979 to 1990, was an outspoken devotee of Hayek's writings). Hayek's work has had huge political impact, serving as the intellectual underpinning of many of the right-wing and libertarian think tanks that have formed since 1947. However, Hayek sought to distance himself from the political right in his essay Why I am not a Conservative (1960).

Hayek's work has inspired the establishment of The Hayek Center..

Organisations with close ties to Hayek, either via the Mont Pelerin circle, or less directly, include:


 * Cato Institute
 * Institute of Economic Affairs
 * Atlas Economic Research Foundation
 * Competitive Enterprise Institute
 * Fraser Institute