First published 1941
The Pure Theory of Capital
The Pure Theory of Capital by Friedrich A. Hayek is available as a free PDF, EPUB, and Kindle download at freecapitalists.org.
- Friedrich A. Hayek
- First published
- 1941
- Format
- PDF, EPUB, and Kindle
- Pages
- 488
- ISBN
- 9781610161473
- Publisher
- Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- License
- Public domain: this work was published in the 1932-1963 window when US copyright had to be renewed after 28 years, and no renewal was found in the Catalog of Copyright Entries. Not independently confirmed.
The greatest failing of non-Austrian theories of macroeconomics, it's been said, is that they lack a robust theory of capital. F.A. Hayek sought to fill out the theory of the business cycle with an impenetrable one, and the result was this remarkable 1941 treatise. It took him many years to write. It is surely his most detailed work in economic theory.
Appearing at the height of the Keynesian revolution, this treatise was sadly overlooked. Today it can be appreciated anew.
It offers a detailed account of the equilibrium relationships between inputs and outputs in an economy, Hayek’s stated objective was to make capital theory—which had previously been devoted almost entirely to the explanation of interest rates—“useful for the analysis of the monetary phenomena of the real world.” This takes him into a long explanation of the heterogeneity of the capital stock and its relationship to the passage of time.
Hayek reports that he never felt that he had fully completed the book but at 480 pages, it remains the most complete treatise on the subject ever published.
To be sure, this is for serious students, but the effort to grapple with Hayek's thought is heavily rewarded here.
Questions
About this book and this copy
- Is The Pure Theory of Capital free to download?
- Yes. The complete 488-page PDF, EPUB, and Kindle downloads directly from this page (10.2 MB). There is no signup, no account and no paywall.
- How long is The Pure Theory of Capital?
- 488 pages, 36 chapters, and about 159,782 words in the edition this archive serves.
- Is The Pure Theory of Capital in the public domain?
- Believed so. US works published between 1932 and 1963 kept copyright past 28 years only if someone filed a renewal, and no renewal for this work was found in the Catalog of Copyright Entries. That is a search result rather than a legal opinion: a renewal filed under a shortened title or a different claimant would not have been found. Some copies carry a rights notice, which records the original claim and does not extend a term that lapsed.
- Who wrote The Pure Theory of Capital?
- Friedrich August von Hayek (1899–1992) was an Austrian-British economist and one of the most influential free-market thinkers of the 20th century. This archive holds 22 of Hayek's works.
What's in it
36 chapters · 159,782 words · free to read here
- Front Matter
- Analytical Table of Contents
- I. The Scope of the Inquiry
- II. Equilibrium Analysis and the Capital Problem
- III. The Significance of Analysis in Real Terms
- IV. The Relation of this Study to the Current Theories of Capital
- V. The Nature of the Capital Problem
- VI. The Duration of the Process of Production and the Durability of Goods: Some Definitions
- VII. Capital and the "Subsistence Fund"
- VIII. The Output Function and the Input Function
- IX. The Continuous Process of Production
- X. The Position of Durable Goods in the Investment Structure
- XI. The Productivity of Investment
- XII. Planning for a Constant Output Stream
- XIII. Compound Interest and the Instantaneous Rate of Interest
- XIV. The Marginal Productivity of Investment and the Rate of Interest
- XV. Input, Output, and the Stock of Capital in Value Terms
- XVI. The Marginal Value Product of Investment: The Problem of Attribution (Imputation)
- XVII. Time Preference and its Effects with Constant Returns on Investment
- XVIII. Time Preference and Productivity: Their Relative Importance
- XIX. The General Conditions of Equilibrium
- XX. The Accumulation of Capital
- XXI. The Effect of the Accumulation of Capital on the Quantities Produced and on Relative Prices of Different Commodities
- XXII. The Adjustment of the Capital Structure to Foreseen Changes
- XXIII. The Effects of Unforeseen Changes and in Particular of Inventions
- XXIV. The Mobility of Capital
- XXV. "Saving", "Investment", and the "Consumption of Capital"
- XXVI. Factors Affecting the Rate of Interest in the Short Run
- XXVII. Long-Run Forces Affecting the Rate of Interest
- XXVIII. Differences Between Interest Rates: Conclusions and Outlook
- APPENDIX I. Time Preference and Productivity
- APPENDIX II. The "Conversion of Circulating Capital into Fixed Captial"
- APPENDIX III. "Demand for Commodities is not Demand for Labour" versus The Doctrine of "Derived Demand"
- Bibliography
- Index of Definitions of Some Technical Terms
- About this edition
In the lecture archive
Lectures that discuss The Pure Theory of Capital
Recorded talks in this archive that name this book, each linked to the moment it comes up:
-
Intertemporal Macroeconomic Equilibrium: An Austrian Theory and Its Applications
Here is the model and from the formal point of view I have borrowed it from Hayek in the Pure Theory of Capital.
-
The Continuing Relevance of Austrian Capital Theory
This is obviously the case for what was intended to be the first volume of Hayek's projected but unfinished magnum opus, namely the Pure Theory of Capital, which as the title indicates is indeed a book about capital theory.
-
An Interview with Friedrich Hayek: Part I
But in retrospect, after the Pure Theory of Capital, you never I never went back.
-
36. When Capital Is Nowhere in View
As Hayek emphasized in The Pure Theory of Capital, another defining mark of capital is that it is a non-permanent resource that must nonetheless be maintained over time in order to provide a continuing stream of income.
Community
Discussed on the forum
Threads on Mises Community, this archive's companion forum, whose titles name this book. These are reader conversations, not part of the archive.
-
Hayek & The Pure Theory of CapitalDormant
Economics Questions
Keep reading
More by Friedrich A. Hayek
Prices and Production
Friedrich A. Hayek
Denationalisation of Money: The Argument Refined
Friedrich A. Hayek
Collectivist Economic Planning
Friedrich A. Hayek
"Intellectuals and Socialism"
Friedrich A. Hayek
A Free-Market Monetary System and The Pretense of Knowledge
Friedrich A. Hayek
Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle
Friedrich A. Hayek
Keep reading
