(no subject)

Yet, objective mowledge .only exists in rhe dispersed, incomplere, and inconsistenr form I which it appears in many individual minds, and rhe dispersion and lperfeceion of all knowledge are tWO of the basic faces from which the social sciences have to start' (Hayek 1952a: 50). The scientific problem is 'how the "data" of different individuals on which they base their plans are adjusted to the objective facts of their environment (which includes the ion of other peopJe)' (Hayek [1946J 1949: 93).  ( ibid p. 44)

(no subject)

'though I felt that I had found rt answer to an important problem, I could not explain precisely what the problem was' (Hayek 1952b: v). it was nor until 1948 {and (or the ensuing ree years) that Hayek returned to issues raised by that early experience. In :jcccing the orthodox notion that sensory fibres cransmit meneal phenomena o be stOred in nerve cells, The Semory Order (1 952a) is an early statemenc of Ie 'connectionism' paradigm, according co which memory and thought Igage (potencially) the whole brain, by the variable strength of incerneural Impulses. ( Keynes and Hayek. G.R. Steele. p.43

A good illustration how discovering a problem is more difficult than finding a solution to it.

(no subject)

Most information is not generally available; it is endogenous to some particular individual. The implication is that social coordination benefits rom InstItutional structures that encourage the use of endogenous informitIon; that is, those structures that 'provide inducements which will make individuals do the desirable things without anyone having to tell them what to do' (Hayek [1945] 1949: 88); a second implication is that endogenous knowledge makes any ex post appraisal of past decisions difficult, because only the decision-maker is ever in a position to know what he knew.

ibid. p. 45

Prosperity derives from profits earned by those who 'discover ew ways of doing things better than they have been done before' (Hayek [1946J 1949: 101), Bankruptcies are important to processes of discovery in which efficiency and ingenuity are tested in open competition.

p. 45-46

(no subject)

Social progress is valued, not because it extends happiness, but because it extends human intelligence. ibid. p. 50


- appears to be in conflict with religious beliefs.

From a shared belief in advancement for its own sake, Hayek and Keynes oth emphasise the responsibilities, as against the rights, of an individual. From Hayek comes the view that '[l]earnt moral rules, customs, progresively displaced innate responses, not because men recognised by reason that they were better but because they made possible the growth of an extended order exceeding anyone's vision' (Hayek 198B: 23), while Keynes quotes EJnlund Burke: 'out of the physical causes unknown to us, perhaps unknowable, arise moral duties, which, as we are perfectly able to comprehend, we re bound indispensably to perform' (Keynes; cited from Fitzgibbons 1988: 57).
p. 51.

(no subject)

Keynes believes that there are individuals who must be heard because of eir superior perception, wisdom and statesmanship. These select few - an elite - have licence: they are set free from constricting dogma. In trusting his )wn abili ties to inspire and to set a high moral tone for the masses, Keynes (like Plato and Aristotle) is concerned about the kind of person who is fit to govern. Civil virtue is attained by actions towards a common good.
In great contrast, the important questIons for Hayek concern the limitatlons to be imposed upon the authority of government. Recognising both the potential for economic advance that is created by a trustworthy money order, and that the state might illicitly coerce its citizens by corrupting that noney order, Hayek follows John Locke in seeking to establish principles to Irotect individual rights against arbitrary political encroachment. ( ibid. 57)

(no subject)

Money and commerce were regarded by the ancients as a potential political threat. By their business contacts, traders and merchants are exposed to new customs, thoughts and values that might challenge the existing order. ibid 51.

- important observation. merchants make control, on the system level, difficult by increasing the number of goods and services that are being traded, expanding the use of money, both domestic and foreign coin, exploiting hole in law and customs, etc.

(no subject)

The use of money released mankind from primitive arrangements for production and barter; but, in facilitating a high degree of specialisation and change, money has caused individuals to rely upon the entrepreneurial success of others. It caused individuals to rely upon the entrepreneurial lationships can be exacerbated if the monetary system is desrabilising. elationships can be exacerbated if the monetary system is destabilising. Price signals - the means by which dive verse activi ty is coordinated - are orrupted by monetary disturbances. p. 61


- again, "money caused" as if money is a  being with its own will.