The Economic Consequences of Friedich Von Hayek: The Construction of Neoliberalism, the (Attempted) Destruction of the State, and the Return of Keynes

The objective of the article is to highlight the enormous influence of Friedrich vonHayek’s thought on the evolution of contemporary economic theory, and on the progressiveweakening of the state regulation of economic processes. Hayek’s work incorporated a densescientific program and, at the same time, a political-cultural offensive, both aimed to supportthe spread of a neo-liberal and anti-Keynesian orientation. The success of this perspective, inrecent decades, has led to the structural weakening of the State, and its progressive subordinationto the market. At the same time, there is growing demand for political protection andmultiple social tensions that risk exploding in an uncontrolled way, in the absence of adequateresponses. In these aspects we can see the substantial failure of Hayek’s neoliberal project: itspractical realization has highlighted all its intrinsic limitations, exposing current societies andpolitical systems to serious risks of authoritarian drifts.