Abstract
Innset brings our attention to Hayek’s introductory remarks and the first session of the first Mont Pelerin Society conference. At stake was nothing less than the neoliberal aim of moving beyond laissez-faire , related to the second aspect of the dual argument . Hayek’s critique of laissez-faire was scathing, and he made it clear that liberalism would have to be reinvented in order for a modern society based on market mechanisms to be possible. Walter Eucken and Aaron Director held introductions in which they agreed with Hayek’s main point, but the following discussion concerning the details of state action in the name of market mechanisms derailed, primarily due to the laissez-faireist interventions of Ludwig von Mises .
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Notes
- 1.
Hayek’s address is another one whose manuscript has been saved for posterity. Again there is a disclaimer at the top saying “It is specially requested not to quote from this document except with the express permission of the person concerned.” Again, I have taken the liberty of the historian to make some quotations, as I read the disclaimer to relate to more short-term use of the manuscript. Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Mont Pelerin Society, Box 5, Folder 12: “Minutes”.
- 2.
The application is then considered by a Membership Committee, which makes a recommendation to a Board of Directors. https://www.montpelerin.org/montpelerin/join.html.
- 3.
Interview with Dorothy Hahn, Cambridge, 21.12.2015.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
- 6.
Liberaal Archief, “Mont Pelerin Society”, Box 1, Folder 1 “Mont Pèlerin, 1947”.
- 7.
The version of Hayek’s manuscript kept at The Liberal Archive in Gent is different from the one kept at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives. In the former, there are long sections entitled “ASSOCIATIONS”, “MONETARY STABILIZATION” and “EQUALITY” before the speech closes off. This version is also gathered from somewhere at the Hoover Institution, albeit not in the box related to the archives of the Mont Pelerin Society, which contains the shortened version. It seems reasonable to assume that the shortened version was the one Hayek presented at the conference and thus I have limited my treatment to that. Liberaal Archief, Mont Pelerin Society, Box 1, Folder 1: “Mont Pèlerin, 1947”.
- 8.
There is no manuscript available for Director’s intervention and it was not recorded exactly verbatim by Mrs. Hahn. I have therefore chosen to paraphrase the various interventions, instead of writing them as quotations in quotation marks, even though parts of the minutes appear as full sentences. Liberaal Archief, Mont Pelerin Society, Box 1, Folder 1: “Mont Pèlerin, 1947”.
- 9.
There seems to have been two separate parts to the discussion—one immediately following Hayek’s introduction, and one evening session. The collection of minutes at the Hoover Archives holds the minutes of one of these and the collection at The Liberal Archive in Gent has the other. The latter have the time signature 4.30, whereas the former has the time signature 8.30, so I will therefore assume that this is the order in which the discussion took place, although the fragmentary nature of the minutes leave something to be desired for those seeking to establish absolute clarity.
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Innset, O. (2020). Using the State. In: Reinventing Liberalism. Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38885-0_6
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