Commenting on the Pinochet regime, Friedrich Hayek famously claimed in 1981 that he would prefer a 'liberal' dictator to 'democratic government lacking liberalism.' Hayek's defense of a transitional dictatorship in Chile was not an impromptu response. In late 1960, in a little known BBC radio...

In 1980 Friedrich Hayek wrote to Paul Samuelson complaining about the role that Economics had played in discrediting the thesis of Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. In the 11th edition of Economics, Samuelson had written that "each step away from the market system and towards the social reform of the...

Some supporters claim that Friedrich Hayek was more accepting of some aspects of the welfare state than is generally believed. Is that a way to sugarcoat his central laissez-faire message? The authors say there is no disguising his belief that the contemporary welfare state will lead to serfdom.

We assess Peter Boettke's public choice reading of F. A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom (1944). In particular, we argue that Boettke's reading of Hayek's thesis ignores the possibility that rent-seeking interests may block movements along Hayek's road and does not give sufficient weight to facts on...

As anger at President Barack Obama's social policies grows in some quarters, scholars and talk show hosts alike have said Friedrich von Hayek's 1944 best-seller iThe Road to Serfdom/i warrants another look. But does it? Hayek maintained that even the U. S. social welfare net would lead to...

As FOXNews talk show host Glenn Beck and others champion Friedrich von Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, its sales have soared. Hayek warned that even a moderate social safety net would lead to a totalitarian government. It did not happen. But this does not deter his avid supporters. The authors...