Hayek’s Monetary Reform Proposals: From Abstract to Concrete

Titolo Rivista HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY
Autori/Curatori Morris Karp
Anno di pubblicazione 2025 Fascicolo 2024/2
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 27 P. 91-117 Dimensione file 134 KB
DOI 10.3280/SPE2024-002005
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Qui sotto puoi vedere in anteprima la prima pagina di questo articolo.

Se questo articolo ti interessa, lo puoi acquistare (e scaricare in formato pdf) seguendo le facili indicazioni per acquistare il download credit. Acquista Download Credits per scaricare questo Articolo in formato PDF

Anteprima articolo

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

Friedrich Hayek’s views on monetary reform remarkably changed during his lifetime. From an initial stance of defending the gold standard and identifying credit stabilization as the primary goal of monetary policy, Hayek eventually shifted to supporting price stabilization and even proposed ending the central bank’s monopoly on money. This article sheds light on these discrepancies by integrating Hayek’s work as an economist with his research outside the field of pure economics. Hayek’s enquiries concerning monetary influences on real economy, as explored in The Pure Theory of Capital, as well as his development of the category of the abstract in his epistemological research, can help clarifying his transition from credit-stabilization to price-stabilization and his abandonment of a fixed mechanism in favor of a competitive process for the establishment of the optimal currency.

Keywords:Friedrich Hayek, monetary reform, gold standard, commodity based currency, free banking

Jel codes:B25, E42, E52, E58, F33, F36, F53, H77

  1. Caldwell B. (1988). Hayek’s Transformation. History of Political Economy, 20(4), 513-541.
  2. Fantacci L. (2019). Cryptocurrencies and the Denationalization of Money. International Journal of political Economy, 48(2), 105-126.
  3. Hayek F. (1931). Prices and Production. London, Routledge.
  4. Hayek F. (1933). Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle. New York, Harcourt Brace & Co.
  5. Hayek F. (1935) Collectivist Economic Planning. London, Routledge.
  6. Hayek F. (1937). Monetary Nationalism and International Instability. London, Routledge.
  7. Hayek F. (1940). Socialist Economic Calculation: The Competitive Solution. Economica, 7(26).
  8. Hayek F. (1948 [1937]). Economics and Knowledge. In: F. Hayek, Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago, Chicago University Press.
  9. Hayek F. (1948 [1939]). The Economic Conditions of an Interstate Federation. In:
  10. F. Hayek, Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago, Chicago University Press.
  11. Hayek F. (1948 [1945]). The use of knowledge in society, in F. Hayek, Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago, Chicago University Press.
  12. Hayek F. (1950). The Pure Theory of Capital. Norwich, Jarold and Sons. Hayek F. (1952). The Sensory Order. Chicago, Chicago University Press.
  13. Hayek F. (1967 [1948]). Notes on the Evolution of Rules of Conduct, in F. Hayek,
  14. Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. London, Routledge.
  15. Hayek F. (1976). Choice in Currency: A Way to Stop Inflation. London, The Institute of Economic Affairs.
  16. Hayek F. (1978 [1960]). The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago, Chicago University Press.
  17. Hayek F. (1979). Law, Legislation and Liberty, Vol. 3. In: The Political Order of a Free People. London, Routledge.
  18. Hayek F. (1982 [1973]). Law, Legislation and Liberty, Vol. I. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
  19. Hayek F. (1990 [1968]). The Primacy of the Abstract. In: F. Hayek, New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. London: Routledge.
  20. Hayek F. (1990 [1976]), Denationalization of Money. London, The Institute of Economic Affairs.
  21. Hayek F. (2002 [1968]). Competition as a discovery procedure. The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 5(3).
  22. Komrska M., Hudík M. (2016). Hayek’s monetary theory and policy: A note on alleged inconsistency, Review of Austrian Economics, 229(1), 85-92.
  23. Magliulo A. (2016). Hayek and the Great Depression of 1929: Did he really change his mind?. The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 23(1), 3158. Masini F., Nania A. (2023). Market Failures and Multi-layered Collective Action.
  24. US Economic Debates. History of Economic Thought and Policy, 1, 68-89.
  25. Mises L. von (1949). Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. New Heaven, Yale University Press.
  26. Selgin G. (1999). Hayek versus Keynes on how prices level ought to behave. History of Political Economy, 31(4), 699-721.
  27. White L. H. (1999). Hayek’s monetary theory and policy: A critical reconstruction. Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 31(1), 109-120.
  28. Zappia C. (1999). L’influenza di Sraffa sull’evoluzione della teoria di Hayek. Rivista italiana degli economisti, 3, 303-334.

Morris Karp, Hayek’s Monetary Reform Proposals: From Abstract to Concrete in "HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY" 2/2024, pp 91-117, DOI: 10.3280/SPE2024-002005