I would like to know:
1. What Hayek thought caused the great depression;
2. His reaction to Keynes' ideas on the causes (insufficient agg.
demand, irrational speculators, bad business practices);
3. How Hayek incorperated his idea of laise faire economics to the
great depression problem.

If you could point me to any literature outlineing Hayek's
ideas/position, that would be very helpful as well.

Thanks

MattJackson --

Friedrich August von Hayek (1899-1992) was an Austrian-born, British
economist who is perhaps most-influential because of the years
(1949-1962) that he spent teaching at the University of Chicago.  The
Nobel Prize winner (in 1974) is known as a member of the Austrian
School of Economists and his views on monetarism lent support to
Milton Friedman and the (University of) Chicago School of Economists.

Along with Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), his teacher and an early
economist of the Austrian school, Hayek founded the Austrian Institute
for Business Cycle Research in 1927.  It put him in a good spot to
observe the Great Depression.

His early views on the Great Depression were published originally as
"Gedltheorie und Kinjunkfurtheorie" but appeared in English as
"Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle."  Rather than taking the short
view of functional issues during the Great Depression, he argued that
ALL business cycle fluctuations were caused by the amount of money in
circulation.  Amazon.com lists the book as being out-of-print, but
several web sources indicate that the University of Chicago Press is
gradually getting all of his works back in print:
University of Chicago Press
"Search Result of Hayek"
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/sgais.cgi/00?query=hayek&maxfiles=100&Go.x=14&Go.y=7


OTHER BACKGROUND MATERIAL
------------------------------------------------

Here's a very complete resource list for information about Hayek that
has well-organized links to the Nobel Prize pages, bibliography and
elsewhere:
The Institute for Humane Studies
"Friedrich Hayek" (undated)
http://www.theihs.org/people.php/75842.html

There is also an excellent biography AND bibliography of Hayek in the
Gale Group's "Contemporary Authors Online," a fee-based service that
is available at no charge from most public libraries.  It includes
dozens of articles that he published in The New York Times, Forbes,
The New Yorker and other popular magazines.

And finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the Hayek-L archives,
which contain a number of discussions by economists over
interpretation of his writings:
St. John's University
Hayek-L Archives
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=hayek-l


HAYEK AND KEYNES
-------------------------------

An increasing amount has been written about Keynes and Hayek but we
should point you to the source first -- Hayek's own essays and
correspondence:
University of Chicago Press
"Contra Keynes and Cambridge," (Hayek, 1995)
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/12879.ctl

You'll find Roger Garrison's writings on the two economists
interesting.  Prof. Garrison, who's based in Auburn at the home of the
Mises Institute, wrote this interesting article on Hayek:
Prof. Roger Garrison's Auburn U. Pages
Originally published in the Cato Journal
"Hayekian Trade Cycle Theory: A Reappraisal" (Garrison, Fall 1986)
http://www.auburn.edu/~garriro/c4refah.htm

However, the professor has also written a book that contrasts
dramatically the Keynes-Hayek debates.  It is heavily excerpted on his
web pages -- and is also eminently readable:
"Time and Money"
http://www.auburn.edu/~garriro/tam.htm


Google search strategy:
Hayek + Friedman
Hayek + "Great Depression"
"Monetary theory and the Trade Cycle"
"University of Chicago Press"

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA