F. A. Hayek (1899-1992) was one of the most influential economists and social philosophers of the twentieth century.  In economics he is best known for his insight into how a free price system outdoes central planning in coordinating a modern economy.  As he stated in a 1977 interview:  "Once you begin to understand that prices are an instrument of communication and guidance which embody more information than we directly have, the whole idea that you can bring about the same order based on the division of labor by simple direction falls to the ground."  In the 1930s his business cycle theory was the chief rival to that of John Maynard Keynes.  His most famous book was The Road to Serfdom (1944).  He was co-recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1974.

The life and times of F.A. Hayek by Jim Powell

Biographical sketch of F. A. Hayek by Peter G. Klein

"The Hayek Century" by John Cassidy

"The Meaning of Hayek" by Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr.

"Friedrich Hayek and The Future Of Liberty", transcript of a talk by Hayek biographer Alan O. Ebenstein, with comments by Charles Baird

The Friedrich Hayek Scholars' Page, maintained by Greg Ransom, provides links to hundreds of Hayek-related webpages.
 

In August 2000 Lawrence H. White became the first Friedrich A. Hayek Professor of Economic History at the University of Missouri - St. Louis.  The professorship was endowed by a St. Louis philanthropist who is an admirer of Hayek.  Columnist Mark Skousen notes the filling of the Hayek Professorship in his article on Where Are the Best Schools in Austrian Economics?
 

The Hayek Professorship sponsors a series of public talks on the UM-St. Louis campus.  Upcoming:

Thursday, October 17, 2002, 2-3:15 pm, SSB 331
David R. Henderson
Associate Professor of Economics, Naval Postgraduate School; and Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
"The Joy of Freedom: An Economist's Odyssey"
Announcement

Thursday, November 21, 2002, 2-3:15 pm, location TBA
Steve H. Hanke
Professor of Applied Economics, Johns Hopkins University; and columnist, Forbes magazine
"Reflections of a Currency Reformer"

Speakers in 2001:

1/31
Peter G. Klein
Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Georgia; and Associate Editor, The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek
"Central Planning or Competition?  F. A. Hayek and the Case for the Market Economy"

3/21
James Otteson
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama
"The Marketplace of Human Life:  Adam Smith on the Nature of Morality, Markets, Law, and Language"

4/4
Daniel Klein
Associate Professor of Economics, Santa Clara University
"Will New Technology Make Government Obsolete?"

4/19
George Selgin
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
"Should the Government Prop Up Banks?"

11/29
John R. Lott, Jr.
Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
"More Guns, Less Terrorism?  Theory and Evidence on Decentralized Self-Defense"