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[[de:Friedrich Hayek]] [[eo:Friedrich August VON HAYEK]] [[fr:Friedrich Hayek]]

<table align=right><tr><td>[[Image:HAYEK.jpg]]</td></tr><tr><td><center>- ''Friedrich Hayek'' -</center></td></tr></table>

'''Friedrich August von Hayek''' ([[May 8]], [[1899]] - [[March 23]], [[1992]]) was an [[Economics|economist]] of the [[Austrian School]] noted for his defense of [[free market|free-market capitalism]] against a rising tide of [[socialism]] thought in the mid-20th century.  He also made important contributions to the fields of [[jurisprudence]] and [[psychology]].

In ''The Road to Serfdom'' ([[1944]]) and subsequent works, Hayek said that socialism necessarily led to [[fascism]] as central planning overrode individual preferences in economic and social life. Hayek contended that in Centrally Planned Economies, an individual or a group of individuals decided the allocation of resources for the whole country and suffered from the [[economic calculation problem]]. This accumulation of power led to misuse and growth of fascism. In ''The Use of Knowledge in Society'' ([[1945]]), he sought to show how the [[price]] mechanism serves to share and synchronise local and personal knowledge in achieving diverse ends among society's members through a principle of [[self-organization]]. Hayek coined the term [[catallexy]] for a "self-organizing system of voluntary co-operation".

Hayek viewed the [[price]] mechanism, not as a conscious invention, but as an [[evolution|evolved]] habit. Such thinking led him to speculate how the [[human]] [[brain]] could accommodate such [[evolution|evolved]] behaviour and, in ''The Sensory Order'' ([[1952]]), he proposed, independently of [[Donald Olding Hebb|Donald Hebb]], the [[connectionism|connectionist]] hypothesis that forms the basis of the technology of [[neural networks]] and much modern [[neurophysiology]].

Though an academic outcast for much of his career, Hayek's work gained new attention in the 1980s and 1990s with the triumph of economically liberal right-leaning governments in the [[United States]] and [[Great Britain]] ([[Margaret Thatcher]], British prime minister from [[1979]] to [[1990]], was an outspoken devotee of Hayek's writings). However, Hayek sought to distance himself from the political right in his essay ''Why I am not a Conservative'' ([[1960]]).

Hayek shared the prize for [[Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel|Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel]] in [[1974]].

Hayek is often referred to as F. A. Hayek, and sometimes by his full name.

==See also==

* [[Austrian School]] of Economics
* [[List of economists]]
* [[List of economics consultancies and think tanks]]
* [[Libertarian theories of law]]

==External links==

* [http://www.friesian.com/hayek.htm Hayek's influence on Friesian philosophy]
* [http://www.mises.org/hayekbio.asp Bio from the Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.hayekcenter.org The Hayek Scholar's Page]
* [http://www.iedm.org/library/crowler_en.html The Ubiqitous F.A. Hayek by Brian Crowley]
* [http://www.nobel-winners.com/Economics/friedrich_von_hayek.html Friedrich Hayek]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/01/11/friedrich_the_great Friedrich the Great]

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Friedrich_Hayek" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]