Dr. Ron Paul has received the Hayek Medal 2026, the highest honor awarded by the German Hayek Society at its annual conference that took place in Münster from May 22 to 23. As a board member, I had the honor of delivering the laudatio for Dr. Paul.
Dr. Paul, 90 years of age, could not make the trip to Germany, but he joined our audience over Zoom. After technical checks the day before, when everything worked well, we had a broken cable and were unable to communicate clearly with Dr. Paul. The audience on our side saw him on the big screen and heard his voice loudly and clearly. But Dr. Paul on his side was unable to understand me clearly. For a brief moment that felt too long, I saw this special moment fall apart before my eyes. But Dr. Paul was patient and kind. He waited for me to deliver the keynote and then addressed more than 200 people in the audience. It was the highlight of the conference. The largest annual conference we had so far.
I cannot say how much this meant to me and how grateful I am that Dr. Paul stayed with us, despite the technical problems. He could have dismissed us as unprofessional idiots not worth his time. He did not. He gave a fascinating lecture, remembering his own heroes: Mises, Hayek, Rothbard, and many more. Thank you, Dr. Paul!
In my laudatio, I had a very clear message to our members in the Hayek Society and, indeed, by extension to the liberty movement at large. When it was announced first that Ron Paul will receive the Hayek Medal, there were a few critics who argued that he is too extreme a libertarian and is not an appropriate recipient of the Hayek Medal. I could not disagree more.
In fact, both moderate classical liberals and hardcore libertarians should appreciate their respective roles and acknowledge that they in many ways depend on each other. Without the hardcore libertarian the moderate classical liberal would be completely lost in public debate, because he himself would end up being too extreme for the mainstream. I spoke openly, and I think the message got through. Here is the essence of what I said in my laudatio in honor of Dr. Ron Paul.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
When you look at Dr. Ron Paul’s life and work, one thing is striking: he is clearly not a normal politician.
In fact, he is perhaps especially difficult to understand for us Germans given our own political class in this country. In contrast to our own politicians, Ron Paul actually had a real job – a real profession.
He is a medical doctor trained in obstetrics and gynecology. And before entering politics he helped deliver many thousand babies into this world. This fact may tell you something about the man, but also his political philosophy: He has spent his life helping other people, rather than ruling them.
But of course, we are not honoring Dr. Paul merely because he was an unusual politician.
We honor him, because he remained an uncompromising libertarian in times when libertarian principles were deeply unfashionable.
For decades Dr. Paul has been called names. Names that I won’t repeat here. I will only mention some labels that have been used to describe him – labels I consider to be badges of honor: he has been called radical, unrealistic, and of course extreme.
Yes – maybe Ron Paul is an extremist.
But if history tells us anything, it is that every movement for liberty requires people willing to defend principle without compromise.
If it were not for the principled uncompromising libertarian, the moderate classical liberal would be lost.
It is because of the radical libertarian, that the moderate classical liberal can make is voice be heard in public discourse at all – and that he can occasionally change something for the better.
If it were not for people like Ron Paul, the moderate classical liberal would be labeled the extremist. And believe me: I would not want to live in a world where the moderate classical liberal position is the most extreme deviation from the mainstream in the direction of liberty.
Such a world would be hopeless.
There is one person who understood this very well:
Friedrich August von Hayek knew that political change is always preceded by intellectual change, that is, by a change in ideas.
