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Hayek for the 21st Century: Essays in Political Economy
A collection of essays by Austrian School economist and Nobel laureate F. A. Hayek, whom Ludwig von Mises described as “one of the great economists” of all time. The vision of this book was to serve as a primer for the layperson, introducing a new generation of readers to Hayek’s writings.
The inspiration for the title of the book came from a February 7, 2000, article by John Cassidy in The New Yorker. Cassidy wrote that because of the profound influence of Hayek’s writings on socialism, markets, Keynesianism, business cycle theory, free market capitalism, decentralized knowledge in economic decision-making, and more, it was “hardly an exaggeration to refer to the twentieth century as the Hayek century.”
But great ideas have no expiration date; hence the title Hayek for the 21st Century.
Every one of the seven chapters in this book is directly applicable to understanding today’s economic and political worlds. Hayek foreshadowed the advent of the internet, cell phones, the digital revolution, and even cryptocurrencies decades before they became available and mass-produced.
Everyone interested in understanding the roots of the ideas that shape our culture and economic landscape today should read this collection and pass it along to friends, family members, colleagues, book clubs, and others.
The inspiration for the title of the book came from a February 7, 2000, article by John Cassidy in The New Yorker. Cassidy wrote that because of the profound influence of Hayek’s writings on socialism, markets, Keynesianism, business cycle theory, free market capitalism, decentralized knowledge in economic decision-making, and more, it was “hardly an exaggeration to refer to the twentieth century as the Hayek century.”
But great ideas have no expiration date; hence the title Hayek for the 21st Century.
Every one of the seven chapters in this book is directly applicable to understanding today’s economic and political worlds. Hayek foreshadowed the advent of the internet, cell phones, the digital revolution, and even cryptocurrencies decades before they became available and mass-produced.
Everyone interested in understanding the roots of the ideas that shape our culture and economic landscape today should read this collection and pass it along to friends, family members, colleagues, book clubs, and others.
156 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 22, 2026
A good survey of Hayek's ideas in a short book you can carry around anywhere.
October 21, 2025
A wonderfully precise and informative collection of some of FA Hayek's best writings on political economy, ranging from the economics profession itself to the best monetary policy for nations. I give credit to the editor, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, for this selection and for his introduction, which provides a nice primer on the subjects.
However, this is best understood as nothing more than a primer to some of Hayek's most interesting ideas, and anyone would benefit to review to the Annotated Bibliography for where these writings came from. As a result, some of these chapters maybe require a bit more context or grounding than is provided; this will vary based on the reader's level of familiarity with the topics. For this reason, I think it would've benefited from a short essay after each chapter that breaks down/expounds on some of the trickier concepts.
My favorite chapters would probably be "Intellectuals and Socialism" and "The Pretense of Knowledge," which is the transcript of Hayek's infamous speech when receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics. Everything said in that speech, and in the other sections, are only more relevant today.
However, this is best understood as nothing more than a primer to some of Hayek's most interesting ideas, and anyone would benefit to review to the Annotated Bibliography for where these writings came from. As a result, some of these chapters maybe require a bit more context or grounding than is provided; this will vary based on the reader's level of familiarity with the topics. For this reason, I think it would've benefited from a short essay after each chapter that breaks down/expounds on some of the trickier concepts.
My favorite chapters would probably be "Intellectuals and Socialism" and "The Pretense of Knowledge," which is the transcript of Hayek's infamous speech when receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics. Everything said in that speech, and in the other sections, are only more relevant today.
December 24, 2025
This short sampling of Friedrich Hayek’s essays on economics and history is challenging and demonstrates the plasticity of the so called Austrian School of Economics in addressing the concerns of the 21st century. The chapter on Currency Choice anticipates alternative private currencies to state monopolistic fiat currencies. Hayek passed away in 1992 before Satoshi Nakamoto conceptualized blockchain in the Bitcoin white paper, "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" in 2009. I found it remarkable and telling that in Charlie Kirk’s college debates his interlocutors could readily identify Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes as economists but were unfamiliar with Milton Friedman and Hayek, who both received Nobel Prizes in economics. The world is apparently just catching with Hayek, but still has a way to go. Hayek is one of the great minds of the 20th Century and his Road to Serfdom is essential reading.
September 28, 2025
Excellent collection of articles by Hayek.
Especially good arguments on why not to considers intellectuals experts on a particular subject
Especially good arguments on why not to considers intellectuals experts on a particular subject
January 3, 2026
Very difficult to read. Very academical tone. What does tha mean? Lots of doble negations, the natural order of a sentences gets disorganized to sound fancy, etc.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews