This is .... wow.
Every libertarian propably knows Friedrich Hayek.
Looks like in the mid 70ies Charles Koch of Koch-brothers fame wanted him to come to the US. Yet Hayek was reluctant to leave Austrias health
insurance system behind!
Hayek initially declined Koch’s offer. In a letter to IHS secretary Kenneth Templeton Jr., dated June 16, 1973, Hayek explains that he underwent
gall bladder surgery in Austria earlier that year, which only heightened his fear of “the problems (and costs) of falling ill away from home"
But Koch knew the solution: Social security!
On August 10, 1973, Koch wrote a letter appealing to Hayek to accept a shorter stay at the IHS, hard-selling Hayek on Social Security’s retirement
benefits, which Koch encouraged Hayek to draw on even outside America. He also assured Hayek that Medicare, which had been created in 1965 by the
Social Security amendments as part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs, would cover his medical needs.
Source:
www.thenation.com...
This in itself is mindboggling enough to me, but there is also this little footnote: Hayek didn't want to leave Austria in 1973!
That was 3 years into Bruno Kreiskys chancelorship. Kreisky wasn't only chancelor, his party also held a 2/3rds majority in parliament, meaning that
they could singlehandedly add constitutional laws. He would hold both untill 1983
en.wikipedia.org...
He was a socialist. A real socialist. Imprisoned during austrofaschism, fled during Nazi times. One of his most famous quotes, roughly translated is
that "A few billion more in debt cost me less sleep than a few 100.000 unemployed"
And he meant it: He used government owned industries to keep unemployment low. Invested heavily borrowed money into infrastructure.
The austrian economy in the 70ies was pretty much everything that Hayek stood against. Yet he didn't want to leave for free market
paradise...
edit on 30-9-2011 by narwahl because: (no reason given)
edit on 30-9-2011 by narwahl because: (no reason
given)