The Cambridge Companion to Hayek

F.A.Hayek(1899-1992)wasamongthemostimportanteconomistsandpoliticalphilosophersofthetwentiethcentury.Heiswidelyregardedastheprincipalintellectualforcebehindthetriumphofglobalcapitalism,an'anti-Marx'whodidmorethananyotherrecentthinkertoelucidatethetheoreticalfoundationsofthefreemarketeconomy.Hisaccountoftheroleplayedbymarketpricesintransmittingeconomicknowledgeconstitutedadevastatingcritiqueofthesocialistidealofcentraleconomicplanning,andhisfamousbookTheRoadtoSerfdomwasapropheticstatementofthedangerswhichsocialismposedtoafreeandopensociety.Healsomadesignificantcontributionstofieldsasdiverseasthephilosophyoflaw,thetheoryofcomplexsystems,andcognitivescience.Theessaysinthisvolume,byaninternationalteamofcontributors,provideacriticalintroductiontoallaspectsofHayek'sthought.