Abstract
Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom has been interpreted as a general warning against state intervention in the economy.1 We review this argument in conjunction with Hayek’s later work and discern an insti...
Highlights
Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom has been interpreted as a general warning against state intervention in the economy.[1]
Is he making a gloomy prediction about the political prospects of the welfare state too? Is his work a calumny aimed at discrediting any form of regulatory intervention? If Hayek is attacking welfare states in general, his thesis appears to be refuted by the fact that contemporary mixed economies have maintained political liberty
We argue instead that Hayek offers a general warning aimed at discriminatory state interventions in economic life that undermine the competitive market process with coercive commands
Summary
Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom has been interpreted as a general warning against state intervention in the economy.[1] We review this argument in conjunction with Hayek’s later work and discern an institutional thesis about which forms of state intervention and economic institutions could threaten personal and political freedom. 160 | Hayek versus Trump face when replacing the market with a political process.[2] This has sparked controversy over Hayek’s position on mixed economies, which differ significantly from the socialist planned economy he originally had in mind. Is he making a gloomy prediction about the political prospects of the welfare state too? Personal freedom (the “state of liberty”) is “independence from the arbitrary will of another” and depends on general rules delineating a wide range of choice in shaping one’s course of behavior according to one’s own will.[5]
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