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Mont Pelerin Society

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    The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS), founded in 1947, is an international academic society of economists, political philosophers and other intellectuals who generally share a classical liberal outlook. The society advocates freedom of expression, free market economic policies and an open society. Further, the society seeks to discover ways in which the private sector can replace many functions currently provided by government entities.

    The members see the Society as an effort to interpret in modern terms the fundamental principles of economic society as expressed by classical Western economists, political scientists and philosophers. Its founders included Friedrich Hayek, Frank Knight, Karl Popper, Ludwig von Mises, George Stigler, and Milton Friedman.

    History

    The Society was created at a conference organized by F. A. Hayek, held at the base of Mont Pèlerin, near Vevey, Switzerland. Taking their name from the location, the Mont Pelerin Society was formally established on 10 April 1947. It was originally proposed to be named the Acton-Tocqueville Society. Frank Knight protested against naming it "after two Catholics", and Ludwig von Mises expressed concern that the mistakes made by Acton and Tocqueville would be connected with the society1.

    In their "Statement of Aims" on 8 April 1947, the scholars were worried about the dangers faced by civilization, stating:

    Over large stretches of the Earth's surface the essential conditions of human dignity and freedom have already disappeared. In others they are under constant menace from the development of current tendencies of policy. The position of the individual and the voluntary group are progressively undermined by extensions of arbitrary power. Even that most precious possession of Western Man, freedom of thought and expression, is threatened by the spread of creeds which, claiming the privilege of tolerance when in the position of a minority, seek only to establish a position of power in which they can suppress and obliterate all views but their own.2

    The group also stated that it is "difficult to imagine a society in which freedom may be effectively preserved" without the "diffused power and initiative" associated with "private property and the competitive market" and found it desirable inter alia to study

    the following matters:

    1. The analysis and exploration of the nature of the present crisis so as to bring home to others its essential moral and economic origins.
    2. The redefinition of the functions of the state so as to distinguish more clearly between the totalitarian and the liberal order.
    3. Methods of re-establishing the rule of law and of assuring its development in such manner that individuals and groups are not in a position to encroach upon the freedom of others and private rights are not allowed to become a basis of predatory power.
    4. The possibility of establishing minimum standards by means not inimical to initiative and functioning of the market.
    5. Methods of combating the misuse of history for the furtherance of creeds hostile to liberty.
    6. The problem of the creation of an international order conducive to the safeguarding of peace and liberty and permitting the establishment of harmonious international economic relations.2

    The group sought "to establish no meticulous and hampering orthodoxy", not to "conduct propaganda" nor align "itself with [any] particular party". It aimed to facilitate "the exchange of views ..., to contribute to the preservation and improvement of the free society"2.

    In his opening address to the inaugural conference, Hayek mentioned "two men with whom I had most fully discussed the plan for this meeting both have not lived to see its realization", namely Sir John Clapham, a British economic historian at Cambridge, and Henry Simons at the University of Chicago3.

    The MPS has continued to meet regularly, the General Meeting every two years and regional meetings annually. The Society has close ties to the network of think tanks sponsored in part by the Atlas Network4.

    Influence

    Hayek stressed that the society was to be a scholarly community arguing against collectivism while not engaging in public relations or propaganda. The society has become part of an international think tank movement and Hayek used it as a forum to encourage members such as Antony Fisher to pursue the think tank route. Fisher established the Institute of Economic Affairs in London during 1955, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research in New York City in 1977 and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in 1981. Now known as the Atlas Network, it supports a wide network of think tanks, including the Fraser Institute in Canada5.

    Prominent MPS members who advanced to policy positions include Chancellor Ludwig Erhard of West Germany, President Luigi Einaudi of Italy, Chairman Arthur F. Burns of the Federal Reserve Board and United States Secretary of State George Shultz. Among prominent contemporary political figures, President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe of Sri Lanka, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Geoffrey Howe of Great Britain, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense Antonio Martino, Chilean Finance Minister Carlos Cáceres and New Zealand Finance Minister Ruth Richardson, are or were MPS members. Of 76 economic advisers on Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign staff, 22 were MPS members.

    Several leading journalists, including Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Walter Lippmann, writer and activist Max Eastman (then roving editor at Reader's Digest), John Chamberlain (editorial writer for Life magazine), Henry Hazlitt (financial editor of The New York Times and columnist for Newsweek), John Davenport (holder of editorial posts at Fortune and Barron's) and Felix Morley (Pulitzer Prize-winning editor at The Washington Post), have also been members. Members of the MPS have also been well represented on the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

    Eight MPS members, F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Maurice Allais, James M. Buchanan, Ronald Coase, Gary Becker and Vernon Smith have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

    In the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, MPS was ranked 25th in the "2020 Best Think Tank Conference" category6.

    Presidents

    Numerous notable economic and political theorists have served as president of the MPS7:

    • F. A. Hayek - United Kingdom, 1947-61
    • Wilhelm Röpke - Switzerland, 1961-62
    • John Jewkes - United Kingdom, 1962-64
    • Friedrich Lutz - Germany, 1964-67
    • Bruno Leoni - Italy, 1967
    • Günter Schmölders - Germany, 1968-70
    • Milton Friedman - United States, 1970-72
    • Arthur Shenfield - United Kingdom, 1972-74
    • Gaston Leduc - France, 1974-76
    • George Stigler - United States, 1976-78
    • Manuel Ayau - Guatemala, 1978-80
    • Chiaki Nishiyama - Japan, 1980-82
    • Lord Harris of High Cross - United Kingdom, 1982-84
    • James M. Buchanan - United States, 1984-86
    • Herbert Giersch - Germany, 1986-88
    • Antonio Martino - Italy, 1988-90
    • Gary Becker - United States, 1990-92
    • Max Hartwell - United Kingdom, 1992-94
    • Pascal Salin - France, 1994-96
    • Edwin Feulner - United States, 1996-98
    • Ramón Diaz - Uruguay, 1998-00
    • Christian Watrin - Germany, 2000-02
    • Leonard Liggio - United States, 2002-04
    • Victoria Curzon-Price - Switzerland, 2004-06
    • Greg Lindsay - Australia, 2006-08
    • Deepak Lal - United States, 2008-10
    • Kenneth Minogue - United Kingdom, 2010-12
    • Allen H. Meltzer - United States, 2012-14
    • Pedro Schwartz - Spain, 2014-16
    • Peter Boettke - United States, 2016-18
    • John B. Taylor - United States, 2018-20
    • Linda Whetstone - United Kingdom, 2020-21
    • Gabriel Calzada - Guatemala, 2021-24
    • Deirdre McCloskey - United States, 2024-

    Other notable participants and members

    1. Alan Ebenstein, Friedrich Hayek: A Biography (New York: Palgrave, 2001), 140-146. ↩︎

    2. R. M. Hartwell, A History of the Mont Pelerin Society (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1995), 41-42. ↩︎

    3. F. A. Hayek, Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967), 152. ↩︎

    4. Dieter Plehwe, "Introduction", in The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective, eds. Philip Mirowski and Dieter Plehwe (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009), 35 note 6. ↩︎

    5. Philip Mirowski, "Postface: Defining Neoliberalism", in Road from Mont Pèlerin, 448-449 note 20. ↩︎

    6. James G. McGann, 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, The Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 28 January 2021), 266-269, accessed 11 December 2024. ↩︎

    7. "Past Presidents" and "Board of Directors" (MontPelerin.org), accessed 11 December 2024. ↩︎

    This article is derived from the English Wikipedia article "Mont Pelerin Society" as of 11 Nov 2024, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.