''The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism'' is a book written by the economist and political philosopher

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Hayek ...

and edited by the philosopher

William Warren Bartley William Warren Bartley III (October 2, 1934 – February 5, 1990), known as W. W. Bartley III, was an American philosopher specializing in 20th century philosophy, language and logic, and the Vienna Circle. Early life and education Born in Wilk ...

. The book was first published in 1988 by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...

. Questions have been raised about how far Bartley was the editor and how far the author. The title of the book derives from a passage in

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...

The Theory of Moral Sentiments ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments'' is a 1759 book by Adam Smith. It provided the ethical, philosophical, economic, and methodological underpinnings to Smith's later works, including '' The Wealth of Nations'' (1776), ''Essays on Philosophica ...

'' (1759), though the exact phrase does not occur in Smith's book.

Summary

In this book, Hayek aims to refute

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

by demonstrating that socialist theories are not only logically incorrect but that their premises are also incorrect. According to Hayek, civilizations grew because societal traditions placed importance on

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...

, leading to expansion, trade, and eventually the modern capitalist system, which he calls the extended order. Hayek says this demonstrates a key flaw within socialist thought, which holds only purposefully designed changes can be the most efficient. Also, he says statist (e.g., "socialist") economies cannot be efficient because dispersed knowledge is required in a modern economy. Additionally, Hayek asserts that since modern civilization, and all of its customs and traditions, naturally led to the current order and are needed for its continuance, fundamental changes to the system that try to control it are doomed to fail since they are impossible or unsustainable in modern civilization.

Price signals A price signal is information conveyed to consumers and producers, via the prices offered or requested for, and the amount requested or offered of a product or service, which provides a signal to increase or decrease quantity supplied or quanti ...

are the only means of enabling each economic decision maker to communicate

tacit knowledge Tacit knowledge or implicit knowledge—as opposed to formal, codified or explicit knowledge—is knowledge that is difficult to express or extract, and thus more difficult to transfer to others by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. This ...

or dispersed knowledge with each other to solve the

economic calculation problem The economic calculation problem (sometimes abbreviated ECP) is a criticism of using economic planning as a substitute for market-based allocation of the factors of production. It was first proposed by Ludwig von Mises in his 1920 article "Eco ...

Controversy

There is scholarly debate on the extent of

's influence on the work. Officially, Bartley was the editor who prepared the book for publication once Hayek fell ill in 1985. However, the inclusion of material from Bartley's philosophical point of view and citations that other people provided to Bartley have led to questions about how much of the book was written by Hayek and whether Hayek knew about the added material. Bruce Caldwell thinks the evidence "clearly points towards a conclusion that the book was a product more of artley'spen than of Hayek's. ... Bartley may have written the book".''Karl Popper, a Centenary Assessment Vol. 1: Life and Times, and Values in a World of Facts'', p. 120

Quotations

The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatal Conceit 1988 non-fiction books Books about socialism Books by Friedrich Hayek English-language books University of Chicago Press books

Summary

Controversy

Quotations

See also

References