From p. 40 of Don Boudreaux’s short new volume The Essential Hayek, in which Don performs the valuable service of putting Hayek’s most important ideas in plain, accessible English:
[P]eople often regard the case for economic freedom to be chiefly a case for the freedom of business. This is a mistake. At root, the case for economic freedom is a case for the freedom of consumers.
You can download a free copy of the book in PDF format here. The Fraser Institute, which published the book, also put together an accompanying website with videos and other materials.
I highly recommend reading at least the first two chapters, in which Don takes a Leonard Read/I, Pencil approach to books, paper, and ink. It’s as clear and vivid an explanation of Hayekian spontaneous order as I’ve ever seen, and it reads quickly and easily.
