Introduction
The debate between Friedrich Hayek and Gunnar Myrdal symbolizes modern uncertainty regarding the idea of progress. This article analyzes the conflict between the logic of social engineering and spontaneous order. You will discover why technocratic planning often fails, how the attribution error distorts the perception of autocratic success, and why individual liberty is a foundation of development, not a luxury.
Myrdal vs. Hayek: Engineering vs. Spontaneous Order
Myrdal viewed the state as a tool for rationalizing life, where experts design a nation's development. Hayek countered with the concept of spontaneous order: order emerges from millions of individual actions rather than a central plan.
The Technocratic Illusion: The Flaw of Top-Down Design
The technocratic illusion equates rationality with the perspective of an outside expert who treats society as passive material. This ignores human agency and the right of individuals to determine their own goals.
Attribution Error: The False Image of Autocratic Success
William Easterly exposes the attribution error: we credit the economic successes of autocracies to a leader's genius while blaming failures on external factors. In democracies, the logic is reversed, which unjustifiably favors strongman rule.
Individual Rights: A Foundation, Not a Luxury of Development
Individual rights—to life, property, and dissent—are necessary conditions for rational economic management. Only in a system free from arbitrary violence can mechanisms of accountability and learning from mistakes emerge.
Scandinavian Trust vs. German Ordoliberalism
The Scandinavian model is built on a high-trust culture where the state serves as a tool for its citizens. German ordoliberalism is a technocracy of the rule of law, focused on the rigid adherence to rules (Regeln einhalten) that protect the market.
Inclusive Institutions: Acemoglu and Robinson’s Engine of Growth
Long-term success depends on inclusive institutions that protect property and allow citizens to participate in decision-making. Extractive (elite-driven) institutions produce only short-lived bursts of growth.
Authoritarian Regimes: A Barrier to Global Capital
For global business, authoritarian regimes are risky due to their lack of self-correction. Institutional stability reduces the cost of capital, making the democratic rule of law the most predictable investment environment.
Development as a Process of Expanding Individual Freedom
According to Amartya Sen, development is the expansion of real freedoms. GDP indicators are merely tools; the goal is to enable people to pursue their own life plans.
EU Commissioners: A Barrier to Easterly’s Tyranny of Experts
The appointment process for the European Commission, requiring approval from both governments and Parliament, ensures dual democratic legitimacy. This protects the system from the tyranny of unchecked experts.
Legal Accountability Restrains the Power of the European Commission
The power of commissioners is subject to strict rigors: oversight by Parliament, the Court of Justice, and institutions like the EPPO or OLAF, which prevents arbitrariness.
The Santer Commission: A Lesson in Controlling Technocracy
The fall of the Santer Commission in 1999 proved that Brussels officials are not untouchable. Control mechanisms forced the resignation of the entire college in the face of nepotism allegations.
The Nobel Prize in Economics: The Error of Legitimizing Pseudoscience
Hayek considered the Nobel Prize in Economics a mistake, as it grants economists the authority of the natural sciences, fostering technocratic hubris and treating people as experimental objects.
Expert Knowledge vs. Civic Agency
Experts should be servants, not masters, of the debate. The rationality of policy must be validated by the force of the better argument, not the authority of the institution.
Criticism of Technocracy Paralyzes Global Coordination
Care must be taken so that skepticism does not block global coordination on issues like climate or pandemics. The challenge lies in integrating specialized knowledge into democratic processes.
Conclusion
The debate between Hayek and Myrdal remains open. Sustainable development requires the painstaking construction of institutions that restrain power and protect civic agency. Will our world be a collection of top-down plans, or a space where everyone has the right to build their own solutions? On this choice depends whether development will be synonymous with freedom or merely a euphemism for obedience.
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