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Essay / Polanyi versus Hayek on the theme of the market - 1065
According to Karl Polanyi, a market is a meeting place for the purposes of exchange and transaction (Polanyi 1957, 56). The prompt indicates that a standard view of the market considers most or all values to be outside the logic of self-interested and mutually beneficial exchange. Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek analyze this view of the market in their writings and evaluate it according to their own beliefs. Hayek seems to agree with the standard view. He believes that values such as the concern for justice or the minimization of people's suffering are not anchored in the market, but are external to it. He supports this view by introducing the concept of what he calls "catallaxis". Polanyi, however, takes an opposing view to externalized values by arguing that values are in fact anchored in the market. It provides an overview of how history supports this view. To better explain his beliefs, Hayek first presents a problem. This problem arises because society has a common misconception that there is a single economy with a unified hierarchy of ends determined by that economy (Hayek 1976, 108). This implies that markets within the economy have a unique purpose within the context of this unified hierarchy. This view is, however, erroneous because markets, in reality, do not serve an end, but the interests of all market members (Hayek 1976: 108). In order to compensate for the misconception and assumed meaning of the term "economics", Hayek developed a new term, "catallaxis". Catallaxy is a concept that describes many interrelated economies rather than a single whole. “It is a special type of spontaneous order produced by the market through people acting within the rules of property law, tort law, and contract law (Hayek 1976: 109). This is what constitutes...... middle of paper......land enclosures, which increase the value and productivity of the land, everyone has benefited. What seemed to be a bad thing without values turned out overall to be a good thing with the presence of values (Polanyi 1957: 33). This embodies Polanyi's idea that, contrary to Hayek's view, regulation is good for economic growth if it protects the well-being of the community (Polanyi 1957: 33). In conclusion, Hayek favors the standard view of markets with the idea that regulation is bad, while Polanyi favors the idea that values are internal and that regulation can be a good thing to ensure market growth . Works CitedHayek, Friedrich A. Von. Law, Legislation and Liberty... Vol. 2. London: np, 1976. Scotty Catalog of UCR Libraries. Internet. April 17, 2014.Polanyi, Karl. The great transformation. Boston: Beacon, 1957. Scotty Catalog of UCR Libraries. Internet. April 17. 2014.