# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

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Cato Video • May 4, 2008 

# William Easterly offers Hayekian insights into economic development. 

Economic success-among individuals, firms, products and countries-is often unexpected and unpredicted. William Easterly will draw on insights from Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek to explain why prediction is difficult, success is rare and failure is common; the advantages of decentralized decision making to discover what works best in the market and in public policy; and the need to rely on dispersed and local knowledge, rather than government planning, for poor countries to achieve growth. 

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##### Featuring 

![William Easterly circle](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/william-easterly-circle.jpeg?itok=3Wga3BxP) 

##### William Easterly 

Author and Professor Emeritus of Economics, New York University