Freedom, Wealth, and Coercion

F. A. Hayek in his classic work The Road to Serfdom notes that there are basically two different notions of “freedom.” ¹ Some, such as Hayek and Thomas Sowell, define freedom as the absence of coercion – the ability to act without the threat of physical harm – whereas others (e.g. George Stigler) define it as equivalent to wealth or welfare. Those favoring the first definition would argue that society is characterized by less freedom today than a century ago, because of the increased coercive powers of governments. For instance, Sowell (1980: 379) writes, “Past erosions of freedom are less critical than current trends which have implications for the future of freedom. Some of these trends amount to little less than the quiet piecemeal repeal of the American Revolution.”