|
Ludwig
von Mises (1881-1973) and Friedrich Hayek (born 1899)
were perhaps the foremost defenders of the free market and limited
government during the mid-twentieth century ascendancy of Keynesian
economics.
Mises
highlighted the problem of economic calculation in non-market
economics. He saw the price system as the basis of economic
calculation, and emphasized the importance of sound money for
it to work properly. He denounced the government manipulation
of money, and saw government credit expansion as the cause of
the economic boom that collapsed in the Great Depression.
Mises created an all-encompassing theory of economics as a system
of human action.
Hayek
emphasized the role of knowledge in economics, asserting that
man "cannot acquire the full knowledge that would make mastery
of events possible." He advocated a competitive system of privately
issued currencies of a superior alternative to government control
of the currency. Hayek insisted that capitalism has improved
the living conditions of workers, contrary to popular conceptions.
Hayek received the Nobel Prize in 1974.
|
Related
Items: