On fallibility and perfection: Boettke’s Hayek vs. mainline economics

DOI

10.1007/s11138-019-00480-x

Abstract

Peter Boettke’s F.A. Hayek Economics, Political Economy, and Social Philosophy (Palgrave 2019) is a nuanced treatment that examines the historical context of Hayek’s work as well as its contemporary context. Boettke’s major argument is worth emphasizing at the outset: Hayek, he argues, is an epistemic institutionalist. To Boettke, I would add that economists moved away from a preoccupation with institutions earlier than Boettke allows. For Hayek, people are fallible but they learn within the context of various institutional arrangements. For the early neoclassical economists, by contrast, the theorists who know better have the authority to ensure that the inferiors optimize.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-7-2019

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2019 Springer. This article first appeared in The Review of Austrian Economics (2019), 1-6.

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Citation Example for Article (Chicago):

Peart, Sandra J. "On fallibility and perfection: Boettke’s Hayek vs. mainline economics." The Review of Austrian Economics (September 2019): 1-6.

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