Research updates
About the Hayek Programme
LSE's Hayek Programme in Economics and Liberal Political Economy exists to foster scholarship and discussion around the ideas and writings of Nobel Laureat Friedrich Hayek.
Hayek, a celebrated and influential economist who advocated for free, decentralised markets, served as the Tooke Professor of Economics and Statistics at LSE from 1932 to 1950. His writings on economics and monetary theory, especially his 1944 book The Road to Serfdom, are still widely read and discussed more than 80 years after publication. In 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences alongside fellow economist Gunnar Myrdal for their contributions to the study of money and economic fluctuations.
The Hayek Programme, hosted at the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), supports new research, teaching and public events exploring 21st century challenges in global political economy through the lens of Hayek's ideas. It was established in 2020 with the generous philanthropic support of alumni Alison Rankin Frost (BA International History 1985) and Tim Frost (BSc Government 1987).
The Hayek Programme is overseen by Professor Sir Tim Besley and Professor Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, and its activities are managed by its Programme Director Dr Bryan Cheang. The Programme convenes collaborating faculty from departments throughout the School, including affiliate scholars Professor J McKenzie Alexander and Dr Paola Romero, both of the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method.
Hayek Programme Achievements 2023-2025
In the past two years, the Hayek Programme has continued to advance the legacy and impact of Hayek's work at LSE through initiatives in its three core areas: research, teaching and public engagement.
Research
With support from the Programme, Dr Cheang, has conducted innovative new research guided by Hayekian political economy on topics including communitarian governance in East Asia, innovation sandboxes and the conflicts between industrial planning and democratic commitments, to name just a few.
Dr Cheang has also published an edited volume with Oxford University Press using Hayek's ideas to analyse development in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia's Development aims to challenge longstanding narratives about the region by bridging a gap between liberal economic thought and scholarship on Asia. The volume has received positive reviews from distinguished thinkers and researchers in the field, including LSE's own Professor Sir Tim Besley.
Teaching
Dr Cheang also contributed to teaching as the Teaching Fellow of a new taught postgraduate course in the School of Public Policy called Reimaging Capitalism, designed and presented in collaboration with the Cohesive Capitalism Programme. The 10-week course convenes lecturers from throughout LSE to explore the future of capitalism, envisioned as a more cohesive, sustainable and equitable system. The course is planned to return in the upcoming 2025 autumn term.
Purple and black abstract painting. Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
In addition to "Reimaging Capitalism", Dr Cheang has also helped develop courses for Extended Education programmes and teaches two undergraduate PPE modules in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method discussing the ethics of market exchange.
Public outreach and engagement
The Hayek Programme has also conducted a far-reaching programme of public engagement, centred around a popular series of lectures and webinars focused on the relevance of Hayek in understanding modern economic and political issues. Over the past two years, these events have seen over 1,050 in-person attendees and thousands more online. A discussion with Dr Samuel Gregg held earlier this year is the subject of the Programme's most viewed event recording, which has been watched more than 14,000 times.
In June 2024, the Hayek Programme collaborated with Professor Adam Oliver of LSE's Department of Social Policy, and with like-minded programmes at universities in North America to host a two-day conference titled Symposium on the Lessons of Classical Liberalism for the Modern World on LSE's campus. The Symposium convened speakers to discuss the history of liberal economic thought and the application of liberal political economy to modern challenges.
The classical architecture of the Church of St Ambrose in via del Corso, Rome, Italy. Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash
2024's Symposium was followed up the following year with another two-day conference titled Narratives and Culture in Historical Perspective, presented in partnership with the University of Bologna. In December 2025, the programme will host the Symposium on Complexity and Liberalism in Development Studies, which will feature speakers presenting original work on the application of Hayek's ideas to the study of international development.
The Hayek Programme also engages students in discussion of Hayek's ideas through events conducted in partnership with the student-run Hayek Society, including the Conference on Liberalism and Progress in May 2025. The day-long event saw more than 145 students, including many secondary school students, gather to learn about and discuss issues and ideas crucial to Hayek's worldview and liberal economic thought.
The future of the Hayek Programme
LSE's Hayek Programme is a global leader in modern research into Hayek's ideas and their application to modern challenges in worldwide political economy. That leadership will continue in the 2025/26 academic year and beyond - Dr Cheang is working on new research presenting Hayekian perspectives on industrial policy in a collaborative book project with Dr Lukas Fuchs of the University of Sterling, as well as two other book projects co-authored with Professor Mark Pennington on King's College London focused on national industrial planning and an evolutionary view of liberal political economy respectively.
Beginning in the coming year, the Hayek Programme will host a new fellowship programme aimed at engaging scholars based in Asia in discussions of liberal economics and Hayek's ideas. Co-presented with the Centre for the Study of Governance and Society (CSGS) at King's College London, the Asia Freedom Fellows Programme will begin with a four-day, in-person training symposium for participating fellows to connect and engage with leading scholars of liberal political economy. The symposium will be followed by monthly webinars over the course of the following year and culminate in a published volume of original research created by the cohort of fellows, edited by Dr Bryan Cheang.
Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Photo by Airam Dato-on on Unsplash
In addition to the Fellows Programme, the Hayek Programme will also continue to offer its popular series of public lecture events in the coming year and beyond, which will convene leading academics, writers and thinkers in the field.The Classical Liberal Symposium led by Professor Adam Oliver will continue each summer.
The ongoing impact of the Hayek Programme and its affiliated researchers will rely on continued investment from our generous community of philanthropic supporters. To learn more about how you can support the Programme's research, teaching and public engagement initiatives, visit shapingtheworld.lse.ac.uk or contact us at shapingtheworld@lse.ac.uk.