Critiques of the Socialist Calculation Debate

Hayek is subjective

Although Hayek has fervent supporters at a number of schools, we should not ignore the presence of his opponents. Not a few eminent economists attack Hayek for being overly subjective and now knowing well enough human nature. Lawson (1992) has argues that psychological and sociological research has revealed that human behaviour is highly routinized and coordinated in the main by unconscious brain functions. Furthermore, Dennett claims that experiments in neuropsychology indicate that people act first and become concious of their intention to act later. The economic subject of Hayek is not "empirically given at all, but is rather a reification of economic theory." The rational economic subject makes sense only in terms of formalised calculating procedures, which, if they are realised in practice, are more likely to be materialised in the accounting and management practices of firms than in the brains of individuals. Economic theory then projects back these practices, rational for the enterprise as a juridical subject, onto a supposedly constitutive human subject.

Some argue that Hayek's argument is more moral than scientific, and dissolves the essence of economics with psychology by attributing too much value on the human behavior.

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