Economic and Philosophical Implications of Hayek's 'Knowledge Problem'

Abstract

We argue that the canonical reading of Hayek often falls short of the implications of Hayek’s insights. We present Hayek’s "knowledge problem" (how order in a society is possible without the required knowledge for that order being possessed by any particular individual), and we discuss some of the implications that follow from Hayek’s work. We show that Hayek’s "knowledge problem" has deep economic and philosophical implications.