On the road to Liberty

My article titled "The Legacy of Hayek" was published in The Economic Times, 8 May 1999. Friedrich A. von Hayek, the philosopher of freedom and Nobel laureate economist, was born on 8 May, 1899 in Vienna, one hundred years ago. The man, who went on to become one of the greatest champions of liberty, however, had begun his life as a young soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was sent to the Italian front in 1917. An academic, whose “controversial ideas” were eventually recognised by the Nobel committee in 1974, Hayek was also an activist who was among the founders of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1948, an organisation dedicated to pursue the intellectual battle against all forms of authoritarianism and tyranny. While we in India were fascinated by government planning, a quarter century ago, the Nobel Academy held that “von Hayek’s analysis of the functional efficiency of different economic systems is one of his most significant contributions to economic research in the br...

My article titled "Hayek's Road to Freedom-A Centenary that may hold the Key to the Next Millennium-A Tribute to Friedrich A. von Hayek on his Birth Centenary" was published on May 8, 1999. Introduction This month marks the birth centenary of Friedrich A. von Hayek, one of the greatest philosopher of freedom and Nobel laureate economist. While we in India were fascinated by government planning, a quarter century ago in 1974, the Nobel Academy held that "von Hayek's analysis of the functional efficiency of different economic systems is one of his most significant contributions to economic research in the broader sense. His conclusion is that only by far-reaching decentralization in a market system with competition and free price-fixing is it possible to make full use of knowledge and information." Impact of Hayek Today, a wide range of people has acknowledged his contribution all over the world. From philosophers like Karl Popper, Robert Nozick and Michael Fo...