Comments on: A short history of economic anthropology

By: keith

keith — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:09:31 +0000

I am glad you broguht this up. I agree that Hayek is a much more interesting figure that the common stereotype suggests. As it turns out, he was Polanyi’s bete noire, but their shared background in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century should encourage us to go beyond the polemical contrast between them. Thank you.

By: W. Peden

W. Peden — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:54:55 +0000

Polyani’s views on the power of “social interests” are echoed in the work of the economist-turned-philosopher Friedrich Hayek, who argued that modern societies are driven by a basic sympathetic ethic, which evolves out of the family unit, to have reservations about the market. This is because the market involves people benefiting each other, but without doing so intentionally, which is different from our basic ethic. Hayek argued that the only hope, insofar as there was any in the long-term, for economic liberty would be evolved principles and traditions that could provide a counter-weight to the basic sympathetic ethic.

In fact, few famous economists have been to keen to engage in the other social sciences and humanities as much as Hayek.

By: french history

french history — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:15:14 +0000

[...] A short history of economic anthropology [...]