Social Justice Quote of the Day

27 October 2012 at 9:10 am Peter G. Klein 2 comments

| Peter Klein |

Hayek, interviewed in 1983 by Encounter:

Hayek: “I regard ‘social justice’ as a nonsensical term….”

Interviewer: “But do we have the concept of the ‘social market economy’?”

Hayek: “May I tell you the story of when I last spoke to Dr. Ludwig Erhard? We were alone for a moment, and he turned to me and said, ‘I hope you don’t misunderstand me when I speak of a social market economy (Sozialen Marktwirtschaft). I mean by that that the market economy as such is social, not that it needs to be made social. . . .’ If you had to make the market economy ‘social,’ . . . you can justify every demand that cannot be reconciled with having the market determine prices and incomes. There’s no better way of destroying the market economy than with the concept of ‘social justice.'”

Entry filed under: - Klein -, Austrian Economics, Classical Liberalism, Myths and Realities, People.

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2 Comments Add your own

1. Bruce Koerber | 27 October 2012 at 10:22 am

Since there is no such entity as “society’ there is no such thing as social justice. However that does not mean that justice cannot be understood within the context of a society! That which facilitates social cooperation is just!
2. Allan Walstad | 27 October 2012 at 4:23 pm

Do the dictates of “social justice” conflict with those of plain old “justice?” If not, the concept is redundant. But if so, it’s downright evil.