Synopsis
This chapter outlies the philosophical underpinnings of Hayek and Friedman both of whom championed a return to Smithian micro-economics subsequently adopted around the west and in many developing countries. Central to their conservative philosophy is their treatment of the individual’s contribution to society and the capitalist enterprise in an effort to lift the flagging global economy of the early 1970s. Social progress is the cumulative outcome of individual effort. Achievement in the enterprise inevitably comes with risk, there is no entitlement to success and business works best unencumbered by politically imposed social agendas in this economic/political theory. This reset not only influences business efficiency but has infiltrated government policies commodifying individuals and social goods. Marxian critiques of economic rationalism highlight increasing social inequity and individual anomie
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Notes
- 1.
Ibid, p. 132.
- 2.
Hayek (1973b, p. 20).
- 3.
Hayek (1978, p. 132).
- 4.
Hayek (1949, p. 11). Emphasis added.
- 5.
Ibid, p. 19.
- 6.
Hayek (1973a, pp. 51, 102).
- 7.
See Hayek (1978, pp. 282, 289).
- 8.
Ibid, p. 306.
- 9.
Hayek (1949, p. 6).
- 10.
Ibid.
- 11.
Ibid, p. 6. Italics added.
- 12.
Ibid, p. 13.
- 13.
Ibid, p. 14.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Ibid, p. 15.
- 16.
Hayek (1973a, p. 13, 1978, p. 58).
- 17.
Hayek (1978, pp. 139, 57); Hayek, Rules and Order, p. 141.
- 18.
Hayek (1978, p. 238).
- 19.
Cited in Hayek (1949, pp. 16, 30). Alexis de Tocqueville was a well-known 19th Century French political philosopher.
- 20.
Hayek (1978, pp. 92, 222); Hayek, Economic Freedom and Representative Government, p. 14.
- 21.
Friedman and Friedman (1962, p. 74).
- 22.
Hayek (1973a, p. 107).
- 23.
Friedman and Friedman (1962, p. 8).
- 24.
Hayek, Economic Freedom and Representative Government, pp. 16–17.
- 25.
Friedman and Friedman (1962, p. 27).
- 26.
Ibid, p. 39.
- 27.
I define emotional intelligence in Part 4 dealing with feminist contributions to business ethics. Suffice to say here it’s not an attribute unique to females.
References
Friedman, Milton, and Rose Friedman. 1962. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. 1949. Individualism and Economic Order. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
———. 1973a. Economic Freedom and Representative Government. London: Published for the Wincott Foundation by the Institute of Economic Affairs.
———. 1973b. Rules and Order. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
———. 1978. New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. London: Routledge and K. Paul.
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Dawson, L. (2023). Hayek and Friedman: The Neo-Classical Economics Reset. In: A Business Leader’s Guide to Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33042-1_5
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