The Fortunes of Liberalism

The Reagan and Thatcher "revolutions." The collapse of
Eastern Europe dramatically captured in the tearing down of
the Berlin Wall. F. A. Hayek, "grand old man of capitalism"
and founder of the classical liberal, free-market revival
which ignited and inspired these world events, forcefully
predicted their occurrence in writings such as The Road to
Serfdom, first published in 1944.

Hayek's well-known social and political philosophy—in
particular his long-held pessimistic view of the prospects of
socialism, irrefutably vindicated by the recent collapse of
the Eastern bloc—is fully grounded in the Austrian approach
to economics. In this new collection, Hayek traces his
intellectual roots to the Austrian school, the century-old
tradition founded at the University of Vienna by Carl Menger,
and links it to the modern rebirth of classical liberal or
libertarian thought.

As Hayek reminds us, the cornerstone of modern
economics—the theory of value and price—"represents a
consistent continuation of the fundamental principles handed
down by the Vienna school." Here, in this first modern
collection of essays on the Austrian school by one of its
preeminent figures, is the genesis of this tradition and its
place in intellectual history.

Reflections on Hayek's days as a young economic theorist
in Vienna, his opening address to the inaugural meeting of
the Mont Pèlerin Society, and essays on former teachers
and other leading figures in the Austrian school are included
in volume 4. Two hitherto unavailable memoirs, "The
Economics of the 1920s as Seen from Vienna," published here
for the first time, and "The Rediscovery of Freedom: Personal
Recollections," available for the first time in English,
make this collection invaluable for Hayek scholars.

Hayek's writings continue to provide an invaluable
education in a subject which is nothing less than the
development of the modern world.

F. A. Hayek, awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in
1974, was a pioneer in monetary theory and the principal
proponent of the libertarian philosophy. Hayek was the author
of numerous books and was professor emeritus at the University
of Freiburg and the University of Chicago.