[MUSIC] At the same time as the Charter of Human Rights was being proposed, others were working on the idea of economic freedoms. And one of the champions of that new thinking is Friedrich von Hayek. Hayek's born in Austria, Hungary on 1899. He fights in the First World War. In 1930 becomes a British subject. In 1974, he wins the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Between 1984 and 1991, he becomes an inspiration for the political right in Britain and the United States. That is, the governments of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. And Hayek's main set of beliefs surround the notion of the market and the idea of the free market and the idea that the market regulates itself. The idea the how we buy and sell things doesn't require a great deal of intervention by the state. And by that sort of formulation, he sees economic freedom as being a, not just important, but a bulwark against totalitarianism, against people who would take away other freedoms, hence the title of his first book in 1944, The Road to Serfdom. And then The Constitution of Liberty in 1960. Constitution of Liberty makes explicit reference to Magna Carta. And in particular to clause 39. And the key to this clause for Hayek is the idea that free men cannot be imprisoned or exiled or destroyed in any way. And that he should be free to be able to conduct a business under the law. And the law is incredibly important here, for, for Hayek. The law of the land. There's a law of the land that should protect the freedom to own property. And Hayek's influence that here is really so great that in the end of the day, he's probably responsible for the invention of a new ideology. And that we might describe as neo-liberalism. And that, neo-liberalism includes the idea of privatisation of public property and public ownership, public wealth, public resources, all need to be put into private hands. It suggests that the capitalist marketplace already spoken about is a primary and has a primacy over everything else. The real important drive was to change was within the system belonged to private finance. It's the banks. Not those who have money in the banks necessarily. At the same time, Hayek and others would argue for the reduction of the rights of labour. Now you can see how this runs contrary to Eleanor Roosevelt's, and other liberals', declaration of human rights. So certain key rights, in that declaration. Are at odds with the Hayek new liberal model. So by 1974, we begin to see, particularly in Britain and United States, a clash of cultures if you like. But as one that has now become global. There was an impetus establish a commission to look into human rights that would involve Eleanor Roosevelt appointed by Harry Truman. After her husband's death. So 1946 that commission started to look at the issues of human rights, in more depth. And eventually a charter of human rights emerged which you can now look at, online. At the same time, as the charter of human rights was being proposed, others were working on the idea of economic freedoms. So, we had on one hand, political freedoms, if you like, and on the other hand, economic freedoms often based around the idea of privatisation of property. So, for example Hyek's Constitution of Liberty comes out at the same period. And that is the material that would lead on to Neoliberalism and the idea of establishing free and, and open contracts, and free trade. So you have two ideas which emerge. We seem, in '46, '47, '48, not necessarily opposed to one another. But actually more recently, historians and indeed political commentators have begun to wonder whether one set of rights may, in fact, impinge on the other. Both sides will actually cite and quote Magna Carta at some stage. So again, we see this double-sided argument, if you like, being used to justify particular policies.
