Hayek’s 1931 lectures baffled audiences yet seemed to address business cycle problems

Evidence

Many in the audience struggled to understand Hayek’s argument, fi nding his accent heavy, his pre sen ta tion largely “nonfollowable,” and his ideas confusingly “tangled.” His fi rst lecture, however, demonstrated a knowledge of the history of British monetary theory that would have been extraordinary in a native scholar, let alone one who had been educated within a different national tradition. Further, he drew extensively on ideas from Austrian capital theory that were novel to many members of the audience; although they were diffi cult for scholars unfamiliar with its antecedents to understand, they appeared to hold the potential to address urgent problems in the study of business cycles. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 66

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hayek’s 1931 LSE lectures were poorly understood yet intellectually exciting — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 66; Austrian business-cycle theory correctly describes asset bubble dynamics but offers no policy — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 398

Broader Connections

• Hayek’s 1931 LSE lectures were poorly understood yet intellectually exciting #corroborates (0.95) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 66
• Austrian business-cycle theory correctly describes asset bubble dynamics but offers no policy #expands (0.72) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 398