These notes do not by any means cover the full breadth of ideas within the book. The below are more detailed notes on the key ideas from The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek, along with some quotations that caught my eye. As the world became more international in the mid-1900s, Hayek called for a framework of international Rule of Law, but warned of the risks of this becoming an economic authority rather than a political one. Planning, by contrast, discriminates to current circumstances. The Rule of Law is a necessary and permanent framework upon which individuals can go about their business. #5: Planning, the Rule of Law and International Order. This power is then sustained through effective propaganda and the psychology of groups. It is collectivism itself that attracts such people to power.

Totalitarianism isn’t an unfortunate byproduct of some evil people rising to powerful positions. #4: How the Worst Get on Top and Stay on Top. Economic planning, by extension, relates to all aspects of human choice. There is no such thing as planning that only relates to “economic matters”. But economy of size doesn’t necessitate monopoly, nor is the complexity of technology best solved in a non-competitive setting. Central planners often argue that planning is an inevitable response to technological advances. Central planning inevitably becomes undemocratic and worse, often ends up totalitarian. This results in louder calls for governments and individuals to act on their own responsibility. As the complexity of central economic planning is realised, confidence in democratic assemblies diminishes. #1: The Illusion of Democratic Socialism. Written during World War II, Hayek reflects on the patterns of socialism which led to Nazism, the illusion of democratic socialism and how early signs in other parts of the western world warned at a similar trajectory.

The book contends that socialist ideals can ultimately only be achieved by totalitarian means. The Road to Serfdom is the seminal work of Friedrich Hayek, a British-Austrian economist and philosopher regarded as one of the leading classical liberal thinkers of the 20 th century. Get the book: Paper | eBook The Book in a Nutshell

The road to serfdom by friedrich hayek