Polanyi and Hayek on Freedom, the State, and Economics

Birsen Filip

International Journal of Political Economy, 2012, vol. 41, issue 4, 69-87

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship that prevails between the state, economics, and freedom according to the works of Friedrich Hayek and Karl Polanyi. Hayek, who was one of the most important contributors to the development of the modern market economy and liberalism, formulated a concept of freedom that includes economic and negative freedom as significant components; his objective was to demonstrate the superiority of liberal capitalist societies over all other forms of organizing a society in terms of achieving freedom. Meanwhile, Polanyi, who confronted all forms of totalitarian regimes and argued that a "self-regulating market … was a utopian project," formulated a concept of freedom that rejected the self-regulating mechanism of the market economy as a component of freedom; he supported regulated markets and included moral, ethical, and social values among the key components required for the realization of freedom. This paper shows that Hayek failed to foresee the destructive social consequences and dehumanizing aspects of modern market capitalism, and promoted the free market economy as a guardian of freedom primarily for its instrumental value. Conversely, Polanyi was able to anticipate the modern market economy's potential to engender disastrous consequences for the whole of humanity and provided an honest and objective analysis of the modern market system that is indispensable for understanding the dilemmas, issues, and contradictions of economic globalization.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.2753/IJP0891-1916410405

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