This important research literature review discusses some of the most prominent literature in the field of individual choice and economic welfare. It analyses material exploring how economics as a scientific enterprise may inform political decision-making. The premise is explored paradigmatically through different interpretations including utility-individualism in the context of welfare economics, preference-individualism in social choice theory, and choice-individualism in constitutional economics. The review covers the foundational literature as well as contemporary pieces, which have sparked further discussion in the field. This review will be valuable to researchers and scholars alike as well as to all those gravitating towards this fascinating topic.

What is the nature and role of competition in markets and politics? This book examines the institutional dimension of markets and the rules and institutions that condition the operation of market economies. Particular attention is paid to the the role of the state, specifically the role of governments in shaping and maintaining the economic constitution of their societies.

The Sensory Order, first published in 1952, sets forth F. A. Hayek's classic theory of mind in which he describes the mental mechanism that classifies perceptions that cannot be accounted for by physical laws. Hayek's substantial contribution to theoretical psychology has been addressed in the work of Thomas Szasz, Gerald Edelman, and Joaquin Fuster.

The Sensory Order, first published in 1952, sets forth F. A. Hayek's classic theory of mind in which he describes the mental mechanism that classifies perceptions that cannot be accounted for by physical laws. Hayek's substantial contribution to theoretical psychology has been addressed in the work of Thomas Szasz, Gerald Edelman, and Joaquin Fuster.

What is the nature and role of competition in markets and politics?
This book examines the institutional dimension of markets and the rules and institutions that condition the operation of market economies. Particular attention is paid to the the role of the state, specifically the role of governments in shaping and maintaining the economic constitution of their societies.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203443411

This important research literature review discusses some of the most prominent literature in the field of individual choice and economic welfare. It analyses material exploring how economics as a scientific enterprise may inform political decision-making. The premise is explored paradigmatically through different interpretations including utility-individualism in the context of welfare economics, preference-individualism in social choice theory, and choice-individualism in constitutional economics. The review covers the foundational literature as well as contemporary pieces, which have sparked further discussion in the field. This review will be valuable to researchers and scholars alike as well as to all those gravitating towards this fascinating topic.

Why do the conventions that enable society to cohere survive, even when it is not in everyone's interests to obey them? The book is about how the rules and institutions which are the basis of co-operation in society can be systematically explained. The social sciences which have concerned themselves with this question have frequently come up with opposite explanations, neither of which seem adequate. Economics, with its emphasis on individual choice seems unable to account for individuals following rules when it is not in their interest to do so. Sociology, which can explain such rule-following behaviour, struggles to account for purposeful individual action. In the place of such a stark opposition, Viktor J. Vanberg offers an analysis which cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries between such fields as economics, law, moral philosophy, sociology and political science.

Why do the conventions that enable society to cohere survive, even when it is not in everyone's interests to obey them? The book is about how the rules and institutions which are the basis of co-operation in society can be systematically explained. The social sciences which have concerned themselves with this question have frequently come up with opposite explanations, neither of which seem adequate. Economics, with its emphasis on individual choice seems unable to account for individuals following rules when it is not in their interest to do so. Sociology, which can explain such rule-following behaviour, struggles to account for purposeful individual action. In the place of such a stark opposition, Viktor J. Vanberg offers an analysis which cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries between such fields as economics, law, moral philosophy, sociology and political science.

English summary: In this book Friedrich A. von Hayek summarizes the main arguments for the free market economy and presents his manifesto on the errors of socialism. Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and even on logical, grounds and that the repeated failures in the many different practical applications of socialist ideas were the direct outcome of these errors. He labels as the fatal conceit the idea that man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes. German description: In diesem Band, dessen englische Originalausgabe aThe Fatal Conceit - The Errors of Socialism 1988, kurz vor dem Zusammenbruch des sowjetischen Imperiums erschien, prasentiert Friedrich August von Hayek die Hauptargumente fur eine freiheitliche, marktwirtschaftliche Ordnung und legt sein Manifest uber die eIrrtumer des Sozialismus' vor. Hayek stellt dar, dass der Sozialismus seit seinen Anfangen auf irrigen faktischen und theoretischen Annahmen beruht. Die wiederholten Misserfolge in vielen verschiedenen Anwendungen der sozialistischen Ideen betrachtet Hayek als direktes Ergebnis dieser Irrtumer. Als verhangnisvolle Anmassung bezeichnet er die Vorstellung, dass der Mensch die Welt um sich nach seinen Wunschen formen kann.Im Alter von fast 80 Jahren und nach einer lebenslangen Auseinandersetzung mit sozialistischen Vorstellungen schrieb Hayek dieses Buch als Manifest fur eine offentliche Debatte uber die Frage: eWar der Sozialismus ein Fehler?' Das Ergebnis ist wahrscheinlich das zuganglichste und gleichzeitig das umstrittenste seiner Werke. Die Hauptaufgabe seines Buches, so Hayek, sei es zu zeigen, dass der Sozialismus als eine der einflussreichsten politischen Bewegungen unserer Zeit von nachweislich falschen Voraussetzungen ausgeht und - entgegen den guten Absichten und trotz der herausragenden Intelligenz mancher seiner Vertreter - den Lebensstandard und sogar das Leben eines Grossteils der Menschheit gefahrdet hat und gefahrdet.Zwar umstritten, aber hervorragend zu lesen, ist Die verhangnisvolle Anmassung ein Werk von betrachtlicher Gelehrsamkeit und Ausdruckskraft, das einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Debatte uber die jeweiligen Verdienste der sozialistischen und kapitalistischen Weltsicht leistet.

In diesem Band der Gesammelten Schriften werden 15 Beiträge sowie Notizen aus dem Nachlass Walter Euckens ediert, kommentiert und in einer ausführlichen Einleitung systematisch und historisch eingeordnet, die Walter Eucken zwischen 1921 und 1950 verfasst hat. Das Thema, das diese Beiträge verbindet, ist die Wahrnehmung der Gegenwart als Krisenzeit und die Frage danach, worin die Ursachen der Krise zu sehen sind und auf welchem Wege ihre Lösung gefunden werden kann. In allen Texten setzt sich Eucken mit alternativen Krisendeutungen und Lösungsvorschlägen auseinander. Besonders gründlich analysiert und kritisiert er die Deutungen und Vorschläge sozialistischer Denker und der Vertreter der Idee des "totalen Staates". Anhand der Texte wird Euckens Weg zum ordoliberalen Forschungsprogramm deutlich. Bis Anfang der 1930er Jahre ging es ihm allgemein um die geistige Krise der Neuzeit. Die späteren Texte zeigen, dass er die geistige Lage zwar im Auge behielt, sich in der Forschung aber auf die staatlich-gesellschaftlichen Strukturwandlungen konzentrierte, die er für die Krise des Kapitalismus verantwortlich machte, sowie auf die strukturellen Reformen, die er für eine Lösung dieser Krise für erforderlich hielt.