Hayek: A Collaborative Biography Part V, Hayek's Great Society of Free Men

F.A. von Hayek (1899-1992), who's Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences appears to have been awarded, in part, for a job-interview assertion for which – after eight decades – no evidence has emerged, was famous for promoting the Austrian version of classical liberalism.

This fifth biographical volume examines the hypothesis that Hayek's promotion of the Great Society of Free Men was consistent with his behavioural postulate: amoral self-interest. His Constitution of Liberty promoted those with inter-generational entitlements as the true defenders of 'civilisation' and 'property' - an Austrian School of Economics vision of society dominated by the wealthy. According to Hayek, labour unions were enemies of his 'spontaneous' order: yet unions evolved spontaneously. This archival series also provides an opportunity for reflection, correction and elaboration: two chapters responses to material contained in Part I of Hayek: A Collaborative Biography.

Robert Leeson has been a prolific contributor to the Schools of Economic Thought literature for a quarter of a century. He is ranked joint 17th with Paul Samuelson based on the number of published journal articles included in the ECONLIT database of the American Economic Association. His articles have appeared in the Economic Journal, Economica, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, History of Political Economy and elsewhere. He is also a prolific op-ed columnist and economic commentator for a variety of newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Australian Financial Review. In a 2005 column in the San Francisco Chronicle he predicted the global financial crisis.

1. Introduction; Robert Leeson
2. 'You just had to raise your finger'; Robert Leeson
3. Hayek and the Chicago School; Rob van Horn
4. Wealth and the Intellectuals: Nietzsche, Hayek, and the Austrian School of Economics; Corey Robin
5. Hayek, Hutt and trade unions; Benjamin Jackson
6. Hayek and Me; David J. Theroux
7. Some Recollections of Hayek and Bill Bartley; Gregory Christiansen