Liberalism's Last Man: Hayek in the Age of Political Capitalism

by Vikash Yadav

A modern reframing of Friedrich Hayek’s most famous work for the 21st century.


Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom was both an intellectual milestone and a source of political division, spurring fiery debates around capitalism and its discontents. In the ensuing discord, Hayek’s true message was liberalism is a thing to be protected above all else, and its alternatives are perilous.


In Liberalism’s Last Man, Vikash Yadav revives the core of Hayek’s famed work to map today’s primary political the tenuous state of liberal meritocratic capitalism—particularly in North America, Europe, and Asia—in the face of strengthening political-capitalist powers like China, Vietnam, and Singapore. As open societies struggle to match the economic productivity of authoritarian-capitalist economies, the promises of a meritocracy fade; Yadav channels Hayek to articulate how liberalism’s moral backbone is its greatest defense against repressive social structures.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Biography

302 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 23, 2023

Reviews

[Lucille Nguyen]

A thoughtful, serious approach to take Hayek as a political thinker seriously. Unfortunately, Yadav is too uncritical towards some of Hayek's assertions, like the idea that socialism and Nazism are analogous. A more critical eye that engages with modern literature in different ways would better flesh out the nuances in Hayekian thought, but instead by compensating for the lacuna of serious engagement with Hayek's writings with hagiography of the thinker Hayek it does a disservice to the intellectual history. A worthwhile read, but one that deserves a very critical eye.

[Pranjal Awasthi]

This is a *difficult* read for the lay reader, who might not have as much grounding in the history of economics or economic philosophy. Irrespective of that, this is a wonderfully researched book which speaks to the modern challenges to liberalism - Political Capitalism. A form of capitalism which infuses the authoritarian and totalitarian themes of socialist regimes of yore. Dr Yadav marshalls Hayek's seminal Road to Serfdom to present a defense of liberalism against the new age of politico-capitalist complex in countries like China, Singapore, Vietnam etc. Overall if you have read about the history of economic thought in any depth, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book as Dr Yadav takes us through the vibrant tapestry of liberal thought.

[Aislin Deeney]

Read this book for Dr. Yadav’s intro to international relations class at my college. Great book that covers a lot of topics in political and economic theory that was really interesting to learn, especially with the authors lectures!