[ExI] Hayek

[William Flynn Wallace]

I was challenged to read a book by Hayek and show where he was wrong, and
so I read The Road to Serfdom (well, until I got the ideas).

Hayek outlined two forms of socialism:  those with central planning and
those without (which I will refer to as social services governments).

For both of these he predicted an eventual decline into totalitarianism,
and certainly those governments with central planning have all failed and
became, or were from the beginning, dictatorships, unless I am mistaken.
You know them all.

However, he seems to be wrong about the social services governments, like
Sweden.  Hayek did say that it would take longer:  "In the latter type of
socialism the effects I discuss in this book are brought about more slowly
indirectly, and imperfectly.  I believe that the ultimate outcome tends to
be very much the same, although the process by which it is brought about is
not quite the same as that described in this book."  (from the preface page
XX of the 1976 edition)

I did not find the processes that he referred to in this book that he said
affect the social services types.

There are several social services types, like Sweden, that have not failed,
have not drifted into totalitarianism by anyone's measure.
These governments have their troubles, as do we, with increasing free
riders and accumulating debt, but dictators they and we have none.

Thus Hayek is wrong - so far.

bill w
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