Another Book to Consider

Today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal contains an interesting piece by Russ Roberts of George Mason University. (It's free content at this writing, but if you are blocked out, put "Why Friedrich Hayek Is Making a Comeback" and you should find an open version.) Some of you know Roberts as a regular contributor to the Café Hayek and the host of EconTalk podcasts.

But in today’s WSJ, Roberts explains the recent renewed interest in Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. Much of the interest evidently is the result of Glenn Beck’s recent discussion of the work. But that should no more be an impetus to read it, than it is a reason to ignore it. Hayek's work is important because, as Roberts points out, it provides some explanations for the current state of the economy. There are points about individual choice, and the problems government faces when it tries to correctly intervene in the macro economy.

Quite frankly, anyone who saw the recent recession as a reason to revisit Keynes, shouldn’t overlook this opportunity to familiarize themselves with another of the 20th century’s great economists.