With few exceptions these groups are aligned in principle with the current trajectory of global governance, most concerningly its excesses in the realm of environmental and economic planning. They are also uniform in their dedication to democracy as the organising principle of politics in the international sphere.
FA Hayek was and the Council is deeply opposed to centralised economic dictates by political elites in faraway capital cities. Indeed, it was Hayek’s opposition to central economic planning that led him to propose an interstate federation that could hinder state bureaucracies from engaging in precisely that conduct. The free market, premised on private property, is the best mechanism for social coordination and should be left undisturbed.
Hayek and the Council are also deeply sceptical about, though do not reject outright, the principle of democracy as a catch-all “good”. Democracy has inherent flaws as it is, but becomes particularly problematic when enforced at a global scale.
“Globalism” has rightly attracted a bad reputation in recent decades, starting while Hayek was still alive. Institutions like the United Nations and World Health Organisation have given “international best practice” credibility to profoundly illiberal, often anti-Western ideological projects.
Nonetheless, the world has become a deeply interconnected whole across all social spheres and this cannot be undone, nor is it wise for those who cherish freedom and civilisation to dig our heads into the sand.
The Hayek Council seeks to understand the problem as it stands, the threats coming down the pipeline, and how Western values such as individual liberty, private property, free enterprise, and limited government can best be protected and then advanced under the prevailing circumstances.
The Hayek Council is specifically interested in the ideas of FA Hayek (and those with similar and reconcilable views) relating to international order, and international order will be the lens through which our work is approached. Nonetheless, Hayek’s philosophy of liberty was holistic. He was, first and foremost, a lover and advocate of human freedom. We share these sentiments wholeheartedly, even if the full breadth of Hayek’s work does not always shine through in ours.
FA Hayek is our intellectual lodestar.
The Hayek Council, however, draws from various intellectual inspirations, including many of Hayek’s contemporaries and fellow-travellers. These include, but are not limited to, Ludwig von Mises, Lionel Robbins, and Clarence Streit.
Modern thinkers like Bruce Gilley and Brandon Christensen, to the degree that their intellectual effort supports the values of freedom, spontaneous order, and Western civilisation, are also freely drawn from.