The Constitution of Liberty

The Constitution of Liberty is a book of the Austrian economist and social philosopher Friedrich August von Hayek.

The book was first published in 1960 by the University of Chicago Press and is an interpretation of civilization as permitted by the fundamental principles of freedom, which regards the author as a prerequisite for prosperity and growth - rather than vice versa.

In the first part, this probably the most important work of Nobel Laureate offers a systematic and comprehensive view of the essential principles of a liberal social philosophy of the foundation for the development of European civilization in recent centuries. The second part deals with the emergence of the constitutional principles of the rule of law and its importance for the security of personal freedom. In the third part shows Hayek, as with the advent of the welfare state important constitutional principles are violated and threatens to become so destroys personal freedom. This he illustrated by instructive examples from the fields of trade unions and employment, social security, taxation and redistribution, agriculture and natural resources, education and research.

How can society and economy for the greater good of all be organized? That was the question that sought to clarify Hayek in 1960 with his Constitution of Liberty. The deterrent example of Soviet Communism Western intellectuals had indeed largely moving away from Marxism. Instead they wrote but now achieving " social justice " through a state-led redistribution of income on their banners. The welfare state was expanded in many countries. This trend occurred Hayek decided against: Only under the conditions of a free society incur permanent progress and the successful advancement of civilization for the benefit of all. Hayek's theses also met in the market-oriented west first with little enthusiasm. Thus, it was even argued by liberals, that the theory of freedom really applies only in a world in which the initial conditions for all men are equal. In reality, however, there was historically grown economic inequalities and power relations that need to be overcome by an active balancing policy. By Hayek think corpus of rules as a useful result of a natural evolution, he overlooks the fact that these are a result of social action and thus of power processes. Ironically, Hayek had the Nobel Prize for Economics with the Swede Gunnar Myrdal share, a staunch Keynesians. The question raised by Hayek question of how much freedom for the benefit of all is attached, is still a point of contention in the economic and social sciences.

Hayek focuses primarily on the rule of law. It outlines the origins of this principle in ancient Athens and Rome, the contribution of the Anglo-Saxons, the model of the American constitution, the threat of the rationalist tradition in France and the German legal positivism. Finally, according to the theoretical groundwork, Hayek turns to the practical economic policy: the trade unions, social security, taxation and the redistribution of monetary policy, the housing, agriculture, education. The analysis of failures is clairvoyant, accurate and painful. And yet is amazed who equated previously Hayek, the neoliberals and minimal state theories. For it turns out that Hayek has far more understanding of government intervention, as one might think clichéd - not even agricultural subsidies come across his stern verdict.

Reception

The Constitution of Liberty was placed 9th compiled on the list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the twentieth century through the biweekly conservative magazine National Review.

In the Press

"The great polymath European tradition, Nobel Laureate in Economics in 1974, has pursued in his life work, based on a deep knowledge of many disciplines ( economics, law, history, biology and psychology ) with perseverance the idea that only individual freedom, the preservation can ensure and further development of civilization. He is resigned more than a stumbling block for the zeitgeist. " Wilhelm Seuss, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of May 8, 1989