Friedrich Hayek

Lore & Background

Hayek was born in Vienna to August von Hayek and Felicitas Hayek. His father was a medical doctor and part-time botany lecturer; both grandfathers were scholars. On his mother's side, Hayek was second cousin to philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose philosophy and methods of analysis Hayek said had a profound influence on his own life and thought. During his teenage years, Hayek fought in World War I, an experience he later said drew him into economics. He earned doctoral degrees in law in 1921 and political studies in 1923 from the University of Vienna. He subsequently lived and worked in Austria, Great Britain, the United States and Germany, becoming a British national in 1938. He studied and taught at the London School of Economics and later at the University of Chicago, before returning to Europe late in life to teach at the Universities of Salzburg and Freiburg.

Hayek initially studied philosophy, psychology and economics at the University of Vienna. His time in Constantin von Monakow's Institute of Brain Anatomy inspired his first intellectual project, The Sensory Order (1952). After reading Ludwig von Mises' book Socialism, Hayek's economic thinking shifted away from socialism and toward classical liberalism. He attended von Mises' private seminars and created his own private seminar, the Geistkreis, with Herbert Furth. Hayek's most popular work, The Road to Serfdom (1944), has been republished many times over the eight decades since its original publication.

Reader's Guide

Hayek had considerable influence on a variety of political and economic movements of the 20th century, and his ideas continue to influence thinkers from a variety of political and economic backgrounds today. Although sometimes described as a conservative, Hayek himself rejected this label and preferred to be thought of as a classical liberal or libertarian. His account of how prices communicate information is widely regarded as an important contribution to economics, and it was central to his receiving the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize. His work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena, was recognized alongside Gunnar Myrdal. Hayek was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1984, received the Hanns Martin Schleyer Prize in 1984, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991. In 2011, his article 'The Use of Knowledge in Society' was selected as one of the top 20 articles published in the American Economic Review during its first 100 years.

Did You Know?

• Hayek was second cousin to philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.
• He suffered damage to his hearing in his left ear during World War I and was decorated for bravery.
• He earned doctoral degrees in law (1921) and political studies (1923) from the University of Vienna.
• His article 'The Use of Knowledge in Society' was selected as one of the top 20 articles in the American Economic Review's first 100 years.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"All economic activity is carried out through time. Every individual economic process occupies a certain time, and all linkages between economic processes necessarily involve longer or shorter periods of time." — Friedrich Hayek "The more the state "plans" the more difficult planning becomes for the individual." — Friedrich Hayek "Conversation with Systematic Liberalism," Forum (September 1961)." — Friedrich Hayek "Since the value of freedom rests on the opportunities it provides for unforeseen and unpredictable actions, we will rarely know what we lose through a particular restriction of freedom." — Friedrich Hayek