Hayek Book Prize and Lecture

"Unless we can make the philosophic foundations of a free society once more a living intellectual issue, and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity and imagination of our liveliest minds, the prospects of freedom are indeed dark. But if we can regain that belief in the power of ideas which was the mark of liberalism at its best, the battle is not lost . . ." — F.A. Hayek

The winner of this year's Hayek Book Prize will be announced shortly.

2024 HAYEK BOOK PRIZE FINALISTS

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Political philosopher and Nobel laureate F. A. Hayek, author of groundbreaking works such as The Road to Serfdom and The Constitution of Liberty, was the key figure in the twentieth-century revival of classical liberalism. He was also a formative influence on the Manhattan Institute. When our founder, Sir Antony Fisher, asked how best to reverse the erosion of freedom, Hayek advised him not to begin with politics per se but to fight first on the battlefield of ideas. Our Hayek Lecture and Prize affirm and celebrate this mission.

The Hayek Lecture is delivered by the recipient of the Hayek Prize, which honors the book published within the past two years that best reflects Hayek’s vision of economic and individual liberty. The Hayek Prize, with its $50,000 award, is among the world’s most generous book prizes. It was conceived and funded by Manhattan Institute trustee Tom Smith to recognize the influence of F.A. Hayek and to encourage other scholars to follow his example. The winner of the Hayek Prize is chosen from among the nominations by a selection committee of distinguished economists, journalists, and scholars. Past winners include: William Easterly for The White Man's Burden, Amity Shlaes for The Forgotten Man, Benn Steil and Manuel Hinds for Money, Markets & Sovereignty, Matt Ridley for The Rational Optimist, John Taylor for First Principles, Casey Mulligan for The Redistribution Recession, James Grant for The Forgotten Depression, and, in 2016, Philip Hamburger for Is Administrative Law Unlawful?

PAST HAYEK PRIZE WINNERS

2023: Edward Chancellor, The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest

2022: Joseph HenrichThe WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

2021: Thomas Sowell, Charter Schools and Their Enemies

2020: Alberto Alesina, Carlo Favero, and Francesco Giavazzi, Austerity: When It Works and When It Doesn’t

2019: Douglas A. IrwinClashing over Commerce

2018: John F. CoganThe High Cost of Good Intentions

2017: Deirdre McCloskey, The Bourgeois Trilogy

2016: Philip HamburgerIs Administrative Law Unlawful?

2015: James Grant, The Forgotten Depression 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself

2014: Casey Mulligan, The Redistribution Recession: How Labor Market Distortions Contracted the Economy

2013: Yang Jisheng, Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine 1958-1962

2012: John B. Taylor, First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America's Prosperity

2011: Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

2010: Benn Steil, Manuel Hinds, Money, Markets and Sovereignty

2009: Amity Shales, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression

2008: William Easterly, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

2007: John Tomasi, Liberalism Beyond Justice: Citizens Society and the Boundaries of Political Theory

2006: Lord Robert Skidelsky, The Road from Serfdom: The Economic and Political Consequences of the End of Communism

2005: Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism