Hayek's Challenge

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1. nickikApr 2017
   Yes, the place you linked to is the best for interviews.

   A couple of things to note.

   These interviews with some leading schooners came about because Hayek was old and he had not given many interviews on video. So what you are seeing there is a very old Hayek who does not always get everything correct about the past (as always happens in these situations).

   Second, Hayek changed his position on some topics quite a bit. Please don't watch the interviews directly assume his book that he wrote earlier are the same.

   Hayek's arguments by nature are hard to write and talk about. Him not being a good speaker (or writer) makes this very hard. He himself multiple times tried to invent new words for concepts because he felt the words that existed did not capture the meaning. Mostly he was not successful beyond his own works.

   If you are open to reading, I would suggest "Hayek's Challenge: An Intellectual Biography of F.A. Hayek". The auther is leading authority on Hayek and is the editor of Hayek Collected works.

   Depending on what aspect you are interested in there are different more specialized books. For Hayeks own works, I think "Road to Serfdom" is a easy first read but its written for a very specific people in a specific context, that has to be understood. Some people recommend "Fatal Conceit" as a nice 'summary' for lots of stuff, but there are also some issues with it. I think also that the essay collection "Individualism and Economic Order" is required reading.

   There are a couple podcasts that I can recommend, specially for beginners. One is with the author of the book above. They address different aspects of Hayek.

   - Boudreaux on Reading Hayek http://files.libertyfund.org/econtalk/y2012/Boudreauxreading... (this gives a good overview about his books)

   - Caldwell on Hayek http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/01/caldwell_on_hay.htm...

   - Caplan on Hayek, Richter, and Socialism http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/06/caplan_on_hayek.htm...

   - Larry White on Hayek and Money http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/02/larry_white_on.html

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2. andrewcookeMar 2010
   Hayek's Challenge by Caldwell - http://www.amazon.com/Hayeks-Challenge-Intellectual-Biograph...

   I wrote a review on Amazon that you can read there for more details, but in short: this book describes the themes that interested Hayek, their historical context, and how attitudes to them evolved.

   I consider myself "left wing" and Hayek is no great hero of mine (when I read the book I was barely aware of him - I think he is more famous in the USA than Europe), but that doesn't stop this being one of my favourite books. The range covered is huge, the historical background of the times is fascinating, and Hayek is a much more complex thinker than you might imagine from the way he is treated in current popular culture.

   Vaguely related, "Machine Dreams" by Mirowski is another absorbing, thought-provoking book on the history of Economics (simplifying hugely - the influence of the cold war on the rise of "free market economics"). The style can be a little frustrating, but it's worth the effort. http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Dreams-Economics-Becomes-Scien...

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