Bastiat forerunner of Hayek? An Essay on the proclamation of liberal principles and their turning away through the socialization process

Loin detre un auteur mineur, thuriferaire dun naif laissez-faire, Bastiat apparait comme le precurseur de la plupart des courants liberaux contemporains.Il est frappant de constater que le diagnostic porte par Bastiat sur le fonctionnement de la democratie demeure dune brulante actualite.Cest donc injustement que Hayek a meconnu son devancier : une etude critique de la philosophie juridique et politique du Francais lui aurait permis deviter quelques inconsequences, telle sa theorie des fonctions non coercitives de lEtat.Far from being a minor economist, or flattering some naive laissez-faire, Bastiat is indeed a precursor of most of the contemporaneous views defending liberalism.It is striking to note how much Bastiats diagnosis about the workings of democracy applies with acuity to the current world.Thus, Hayek unduly disregarded his precursor: a critical study of Bastiats philosophy and conception of law would have allow Hayek to not fall into some traps, such as his theory on the non-coercitive functions of government.