Mont Pelerin Society
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The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, intellectuals, business leaders, and others who favour economic liberalism. The society advocates free market economic policies and the political values of an "open society." The Mont Pelerin Society was created on April 10, 1947 at a conference organized by Friedrich Hayek and convened at a Swiss mountain resort after which the society was named.
History
In 1947, 39 scholars, mostly economists, with some historians and philosophers, were invited by Professor Friedrich Hayek to meet at Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, and discuss the state, and possible fate of classical liberalism. The original participants were Maurice Allais, Carlo Antoni, Hans Barth, Karl Brandt, Herbert Cornuelle John Davenport, Stanley Dennison, Aaron Director, Walter Eucken, Erick Eyck, Milton Friedman, Harry Gideonse, Frank Graham, Friedrich Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Floyd Harper, Trygve Hoff, Albert Hunold, Carl Iversen, John Jewkes, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Frank Knight, Fritz Machlup, Henri de Lovinfosse, Loren Miller, Ludwig von Mises, Felix Morley, Michael Polanyi, Karl Popper, William Rappard, Leonard Read, George Révay, Lionel Robbins, Wilhelm Röpke, George Joseph Stigler, Herbert Tingsten, François Trevoux, Orval Watts, and Cicely Wedgwood.
The Mont Pelerin Society has continued to meet on a regular basis, usually in September. The current president of the Mont Pelerin Society is Victoria Curzon-Price.
Influence
Hayek stressed that the society was to be a scholarly community arguing against "collectivism", while not engaging in public relations or propaganda. However, the society has always been a focal point for the international capitalist think-tank movement: Hayek himself used it as a forum to encourage members such as Antony Fisher to pursue the think-tank route. Fisher went on the establish the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in London during 1971, the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. during 1973, and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in 1981. In turn the Atlas Foundation supports a wide network of think-tanks, including the Fraser Institute and the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research.
Prominent MPS members who have advanced to policy positions include Chancellor Ludwig Erhard of West Germany, President Luigi Einaudi of Italy, Chairman Arthur F. Burns of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, and President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic. Eight MPS members, including F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, and George Stigler, won Nobel prizes in economics. Of 76 economic advisers on Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign staff, 22 were MPS members.
External links
- Mont Pelerin Society (http://www.montpelerin.org), the official site
- Marc Haegeman, The general meeting files of the Mont Pèlerin Society (1947-1998) (http://www.liberaalarchief.be/MPS.pdf). 108pp pdf.
- William H. Peterson, A History of the Mont Pelerin Society by R. M. Hartwell (http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=3543) (book review), The Freeman, Foundation for Economic Education, July 1996.
- Greg Kaza, The Mont Pelerin Society’s 50th Anniversary (http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=3790), The Freeman, Foundation for Economic Education, June 1997.