FIRST EDITION OF HAYEK'S CONSTITUTION OF LIBERTY

HAYEK, Friedrich A. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (1960). Octavo, original brown cloth, original dust jacket. $950.

First edition of Nobel laureate Hayek's groundbreaking work on monetary theory and economic fluctuation, in original dust jacket.

Co-winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics and a prominent member of the "Austrian School" of economic thought, Hayek went "beyond [Ludwig von] Mises in reformulating the notion of economic coordination as an information problem, competition acting essentially as a discovery process" (Blaug, 557). Hayek's main contributions as an economist have been his arguments about the benefits of free markets and the information provided by prices. These arguments lead to the conclusion that attempts to alter or control markets should be opposed because they inevitably limit individual freedom, reduce economic efficiency and lower living standards. Markets, for Hayek, were self-regulating devices that promote prosperity. Government policy and other attempts to hinder the workings of markets make us worse off economically and reduce individual liberty" (Pressman, 119). The Constitution of Liberty, written for a general audience on the occasion of the centennial of John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, provides "a positive statement of the principles of a free society" and "a thorough exposition of a social philosophy which ranges from ethics and anthropology through jurisprudence and the modern welfare state." Contemporary owner inscription dated 1961. Laid-in publisher's slip (3 by 5 inches) printed on the recto: "This book is sent to you without obligation, in response to your request as a participant at The Institute on Freedom and Competitive Enterprise held at Claremont, California."

Book fine; lightest edge-wear, minor clear tape reinforcement to verso of near-fine dust jacket.