Ron Paul Wins the Hayek Medal 2026 – A Message to Moderate Classical Liberals and Hardcore Libertarians
05/27/2026
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Power & Market
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Karl-Friedrich Israel
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.
https://mises.org/power-market/ron-paul-wins-hayek-medal-2026-message-moderate-classical-liberals-and-hardcore-libertarians
