Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Hoppe on Hayek as Social Democrat

While it is not uncommon for members of the media to classify F. A. Hayek as a classical liberal, Hans-Hermann begs to differ. In his recent article "Why Mises (and not Hayek)?" he seeks to explain why Hayek receives so much attention as a free market thinking while Mises receives very little. As Hoppe sees it:
My thesis is essentially the same one also advanced by my friend Ralph Raico: Hayek is not a classical liberal at all, or a "Radikalliberaler" as the NZZ, as usual clueless, has just recently referred to him. Hayek is actually a moderate social democrat, and since we live in the age of social democracy, this makes him a "respectable" and "responsible" scholar. Hayek, as you may recall, dedicated his Road to Serfdom to "the socialists in all parties." And the socialists in all parties now pay him back in using Hayek to present themselves as "liberals."
Anything written by Hoppe is worth considering and this provocative piece is no exception.

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