Mont Pelerin Society

The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists (including eight winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences), philosophers, historians, intellectuals, business leaders, and others committed to their understanding of personal and political freedom.^[2] Its founders included Friedrich Hayek, Frank Knight, Karl Popper, Ludwig von Mises, George Stigler, and Milton Friedman.^[2] The society advocates freedom of expression, free market economic policies, the political values of an open society. The members see the Society as an effort to interpret in modern terms the fundamental principles of economic society as expressed by those classical economists, political scientists, and philosophers who have inspired many in Europe, America and throughout the Western World.

Aims

In its "Statement of Aims", 8 April 1947, the scholars were worried about the dangers faced by civilization.

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.^[3]

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:^[3]

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."^[3]

The group "seeks to establish no meticulous and hampering orthodoxy", "conduct propaganda" or align with some party. It aims to facilitate "the exchange of views – to contribute to the preservation and improvement of the free society.^[3]

Name

The Mont Pelerin Society was created on 10 April 1947 at a conference organized by Friedrich Hayek (Friedrich August von Hayek). Originally, it was to be named the Acton-Tocqueville Society. After Frank Knight protested against naming the group after two "Roman Catholic aristocrats" and Ludwig von Mises expressed concern that the mistakes made by Acton and Tocqueville would be connected with the society, the decision was made to name it after Mont Pèlerin, the Swiss resort where it convened.

History

In 1947, 36 scholars, mostly economists, with some historians and philosophers, were invited by Professor Friedrich Hayek to meet to discuss the state, and possible fate of classical liberalism. He wanted to discuss how to combat the "state ascendancy and Marxist or Keynesian planning [that was] sweeping the globe". The first meeting took place in the Hotel du Parc in the Swiss village of Mont Pèlerin, near the city of Vevey, Switzerland. William Rappard, a Swiss academic, diplomat and founder of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, addressed the society's inaugural meeting. In his "Opening Address to a Conference at Mont Pelerin", Hayek mentioned "two men with whom I had most fully discussed the plan for this meeting both have not lived to see its realisation": Henry Simons (who trained Milton Friedman, a future president of the society, at the University of Chicago) and Sir John Clapham, a British economic historian.

The Mont Pelerin Society aimed to "facilitate an exchange of ideas between like-minded scholars in the hope of strengthening the principles and practice of a free society and to study the workings, virtues, and defects of market-oriented economic systems." The Society has continued to meet regularly, the General Meeting every two years and the regional meetings annually. The current president of the Society is Pedro Schwartz Giron. It has close ties to the network of think tanks sponsored in part by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.

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; Hayek used it as a forum to encourage members such as Antony Fisher to pursue the think-tank route. Fisher has established the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) 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, they support a wide network of think-tanks, including the Fraser Institute.

Prominent MPS members who advanced to policy positions included the late Chancellor Ludwig Erhard of West Germany, President Luigi Einaudi of Italy, Chairman Arthur F. Burns of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, and U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. Among prominent contemporary political figures, former President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic and acting politicians, such as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe of Sri Lanka, former Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe of the U.K., former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence Antonio Martino, Chilean Finance Minister Carlos Cáceres, and former New Zealand Finance Minister Ruth Richardson, are all 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, former radical Max Eastman (then roving editor at Reader's Digest), John Chamberlain (former editorial writer for Life magazine), Henry Hazlitt (former financial editor of The New York Times and columnist for Newsweek), and Felix Morley (Pulitzer Prize-winning editor at The Washington Post), have also been members.

Eight MPS members, F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Maurice Allais, James M. Buchanan, Ronald Coase, Gary S. Becker^[4] and Vernon Smith have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

In the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), MPS is noted as having the 9th (out of 55) "Best Think Tank Conference".^[5]

Criticism from Hans-Hermann Hoppe

In 2006, libertarian theorist and Austrian School economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe founded the Property and Freedom Society as a reaction against what he perceived to be the Mont Pelerin Society's drift towards "socialism."^[6] Hoppe stated that individuals, whom he did not identify, had been "skeptical concerning the Mont Pelerin Society from the beginning" in 1947. He said that Ludwig von Mises had doubted as to whether "a society filled with certified state-interventionists" could pursue libertarian ideals.^[7]

Past presidents

Numerous notable economists have served as president of MPS:^[8]

• F. A. von Hayek – U.K., 1947–1961
• Wilhelm Röpke – Switzerland, 1961–1962
• John Jewkes – U.K., 1962–1964
• Friedrich A. Lutz – Germany, 1964–1967^[9]
• Bruno Leoni – Italy, 1967–1968
• Günter Schmölders – Germany, 1968–1970
• Milton Friedman – U.S., 1970–1972
• Arthur Shenfield – U.K., 1972–1974
• Gaston Leduc – France, 1974–1976
• George Stigler – U.S., 1976–1978
• Manuel Ayau – Guatemala, 1978–1980
• Chiaki Nishiyama – Japan, 1980–1982
• Lord Harris of High Cross – U.K., 1982–1984
• James M. Buchanan – U.S., 1984–1986
• Herbert Giersch – Germany, 1986–1988
• Antonio Martino – Italy, 1988–1990
• Gary Becker – U.S., 1990–1992
• Max Hartwell – U.K., 1992–1994
• Pascal Salin – France, 1994–1996
• Edwin J. Feulner – U.S., 1996–1998^[10]
• Ramón P. Díaz – Uruguay, 1998–2000
• Christian Watrin – Germany, 2000–2002
• Leonard P. Liggio – U.S., 2002–2004
• Victoria Curzon-Price – Switzerland, 2004–2006
• Greg Lindsay – Australia, 2006–2008
• Deepak Lal – United States, 2008–2010
• Kenneth Minogue – United Kingdom, 2010–2012
• Allan H. Meltzer - United States, 2012-2014
• Pedro Schwartz - Spain, 2014-2016
• Peter Boettke - United States, 2016-Present^[11]

Participants

• Maurice Allais – French physicist and economist
• Carlo Antoni
• Hans Barth
• Karl Brandt – German-American agricultural economist
• Götz Briefs – German economist
• Herbert Cornuelle
• John Davenport
• Stanley Dennison – British economist
• Aaron Director – professor at the University of Chicago Law School
• Walter Eucken – German economist, cofounder of Ordoliberalism
• Erick Eyck
• Milton Friedman – American economist
• Harry Gideonse – Dutch-American economist, President, Brooklyn College
• Frank Graham
• Friedrich Hayek – Austrian economist
• Henry Hazlitt – libertarian journalist
• F. A. Harper
• Trygve Hoff – Norwegian economist and journalist
• Albert Hunold
• Carl Iversen – Danish economist
• John Jewkes – British economist
• Bertrand de Jouvenel – French philosopher and political economist
• Frank Knight – Chicago school economist
• Fritz Machlup – Austrian-American economist
• Salvador de Madariaga – Spanish diplomat and writer
• Henri de Lovinfosse - Belgian industrialist
• Loren Miller – civic reformer and libertarian activist
• Ludwig von Mises – Austrian economist
• José Isidro Morante
• Felix Morley
• Michael Polanyi – Hungarian/British chemist, economist and philosopher of science
• Karl Popper – Austrian/British philosopher
• William Rappard – academic and diplomat
• Leonard Read – founder, Foundation for Economic Education
• George Révay
• Lionel Robbins – British economist
• Wilhelm Röpke – social market economist
• George Joseph Stigler – U.S. economist
• Herbert Tingsten – Swedish political scientist and journalist
• François Trevoux - French economist
• Orval Watts
• Cicely Wedgwood
• Ludwig Erhard - Minister of Economics and Chancellor of postwar West Germany
• Ricardo Gomes - Brazilian Lawyer

Board of Directors 2008–2010

• Deepak Lal – President (USA/UK)
• Greg Lindsay – Senior Vice President (Australia)
• Eamonn Butler – Vice President (UK)
• J.R. Clark – Vice President (USA)
• Victoria Curzon-Price – Vice President (Switzerland)
• Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard – Vice President (Denmark)
• Michael Zoeller – Vice President (Germany)
• Carl-Johan Westholm – Secretary (Sweden)
• Edwin J. Feulner – Treasurer (USA)
• Enrique Ghersi – Director (Peru)
• Giancarlo Ibarguen – Director (Guatemala)
• Hiromitsu Ishi – Director (Japan)
• Suri Ratnapala – Director (Australia)
• Veselin Vukotic – Director (Montenegro)
• Linda Whetstone – Director (UK)

Other noted members

• Armen Alchian^[12]
• Martin Anderson (economist)^[12]
• John A. Baden^[13]
• Danny Julian Boggs^[12]
• Rhodes Boyson^[12]
• William L. Breit^[12]
• Yaron Brook^[14]
• William F. Buckley, Jr.^[15]
• Steven N. S. Cheung^[12]
• Warren Coats^[12]
• Harold Demsetz^[12]
• Donald J. Devine^[12]
• Ross Eckert
• John Exter^[12]
• David D. Friedman^[12][16]
• Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson^[12]
• Otto von Habsburg^[12]
• Ronald Hamowy^[12]
• Steven F. Hayward^[17]
• George Hilton (historian)^[12]
• Israel Kirzner^[12]
• Charles G. Koch^[12]
• Henri Lepage (economist)^[12]
• Leon Louw^[12]
• Henry Maksoud^[12]
• Henry Manne^[12]
• Paul McCracken (economist)^[12]
• Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker^[12]
• Maurice Newman^[12]
• John O'Sullivan (columnist)^[12]
• J. Howard Pew^[18]
• William H. Peterson^[12]
• Madsen Pirie^[12]
• Richard Posner^[19]
• Enoch Powell^[20]
• Alvin Rabushka^[12]
• Richard W. Rahn^[21]
• Alan Reynolds^[12]
• Ljubo Sirc^[12]
• Beryl W. Sprinkel^[12]
• Gordon Tullock^[12]
• Leland B. Yeager^[12]
• Margaret Tse - D.B.A. and Public Policy Researcher (Board of Directors from 2012 to 2016) ^[12]

References

Further reading

• R. M. Hartwell (1995), History of the Mont Pèlerin Society (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund). ISBN 9780865971363. OCLC 32510484, 683676105
  • Reviewed in: William H. Peterson (July 1996), A History of the Mont Pelerin Society by R. M. Hartwell (book review), The Freeman, Foundation for Economic Education
• Daniel Stedman Jones (2012). Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics. Princeton UP. 
• Philip Plickert (2008): Wandlungen des Neoliberalismus. Eine Studie zu Entwicklung und Ausstrahlung der Mont Pèlerin Society. (Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius Verlag). ISBN 9783828204416. OCLC 243450906
• P. Mirowski and D. Plehwe, eds. (2009), The Road from Mont Pelerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press). ISBN 9780674033184. OCLC 257554337, 748925780
  • Reviewed in: Kaza, Greg (30 March 2010). "Deconstructing neo-liberal ideas (Commentary; Book Review)". The Washington Times. Retrieved 25 May 2013 – via HighBeam Research. 
• Angus Burgin (2012), The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the Depression (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press) ISBN 9780674058132. OCLC 791491622, 844090781

External links

• Mont Pelerin Society, the official site
• Organizational Profile – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)
• Marc Haegeman, The general meeting files of the Mont Pèlerin Society (1947–1998). 108pp pdf.
• Greg Kaza, The Mont Pelerin Society’s 50th Anniversary, The Freeman, Foundation for Economic Education, June 1997.
• The Mont Pelerin Society records at the Hoover Institution Archives.