Israel Kirzner's Keynote Address on F. A. Hayek and the Nobel Prize

Prof. Israel Kirzner recently delivered the keynote address at a symposium discussing F. A. Hayek and the awarding of Nobel Prize to him 40 years ago.

The address is fascinating in that Kirzner attributes much of the resurgence in Austrian economics, following Hayek being awarded the Noble Prize, to the further examination by Austrians of the debates both Hayek and Ludwig von Mises had, with mainly advocates of central planning, between 1937 and 1948. Kirzner highlights the emphasis that both Mises and Hayek placed on subjectivism during the debates and points to this emphasis as extremely important in the advancement of Austrian school theory.

Kirzner, in passing, also recognizes Murray Rothbard's publication of Man, Economy and State as an important event in the re-emergence of Austrian economics.

Viewers will note that Kirzner in this lecture puts emphasis on where Mises and Hayek were mostly in sync and fails to credit any of the Austrian resurgence to areas where Hayek tended to wander away from the Misesian perspective.