Friedrich Hayek

This biography of the prominent economist-cum-political philosopher fills a significant hole in the intellectual history of the 20th century. Ebenstein blends an account of Hayek's personal life (1899-1992) with analysis of his thought, producing a chronological overview of a man praised by some for extraordinary commitment to his principles and dismissed by others as an ideologue. After a brief flirtation with Fabianism in his youth, Hayek embraced the free market and applied it to the problems of political organization. Emphasizing how the limits of individual knowledge undermine the capacity of human beings to make competent decisions beyond their immediate interests, he was an implacable foe of social or economic planning. With an impeccable libertarian r sum running from the Austrian school of economics to the Chicago school economists, and including a Nobel Prize in economics, Hayek parlayed his success as an economist into a career most often remembered for his political writing. Whole chapters of this biography are devoted to description and assessment of Hayek's major writings, and while the treatment is mostly friendly it is not uncritical. Ebenstein does not shy away from Hayek's single-mindedness: in a telling quotation, Hayek admits that when reading the work of others, ""that part of the argument which is not sympathetic to me, I pass over."" In the brief postscript, Ebenstein, author and coauthor of several books on political and economic thought, allows that the core of Hayek's position, his epistemology, was flawed. Yet the appeal of Hayek's arguments for liberty cannot be denied, and Ebenstein has made a significant contribution to understanding an important figure. 8 pages b&w photos. (Mar.) Forecast: This will be important reading for serious students of economics and political thought a fairly small market that will yield light if durable sales.