The Use of Knowledge in Society


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An article written from a scholarly point of view in 1945 which critically examines the concept of a planned economy while highlighting the efficiencies of a decentralized market structure (as propounded by Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School of Economics). Hayek, famous for stating von Mises' complex theories in more understandable terms, highlights in this short paper the important role of "localized information" in a decentralized economic structure, which is unavailable to central planners, comparing their purely theoretical arguments against real "free market" statistics that have been proven over time and practice to produce better results. (Summary by msfry/progressingamerica) (0 hr 38 min)

Chapters

Introduction 5:25 Read by Stacey Malcolm
The Use of Knowledge in Society 6:22 Read by MaryT
Uncommon Knowledge 5:12 Read by Ted Lienhart
The Planner's Dilemma 6:45 Read by gont
Useful Individual Knowledge 4:26 Read by antonyjc66
"Miracle" of the Price System 10:27 Read by Ted Lienhart