Mont Pelerin Society: What It is, History

What Is the Mont Pelerin Society?

The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is a group of classical liberal economists, philosophers, and historians. Although members can be heterogeneous in their analysis of causes and consequences, the Society notes that its members "see danger in the expansion of government, not least in state welfare, in the power of trade unions and business monopoly, and in the continuing threat and reality of inflation."

Understanding the Mont Pelerin Society

The Mont Pelerin Society was founded in 1947, when Friedrich Hayek invited a group of 36 scholars—mostly economists, though some historians and philosophers were included as well—to discuss the fate of modern liberalism. The group emphasized that it did not intend to create an orthodoxy or align with any political parties. Rather, it was intended to act as a forum for like-minded scholars to debate the fate of classical liberalism and to discuss and analyze the workings, virtues, and defects of the market-oriented system in which its proponents believed. It currently meets once every two years.

Its members have included some prominent subscribers of the more liberal, libertarian, and Austrian schools of economic thought; apart from Hayek himself, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, and William F. Buckley Jr. have also been members. The group has counted nine Nobel prizewinners (eight in economics, including Hayek and Friedman, and one in literature) among its members.

History of the Mont Pelerin Society

The original statement of the Society's founders noted concern about the growing "dangers to civilization" that they saw from the increasing power of governments across many parts of the globe. This statement (at the first meeting of the group in 1947) came during the post-World War II economic and political landscape. The Mont Pelerin Society was born in response to the formation of the Eastern Bloc, the domination of Western economies by Depression-era and wartime socialism, and the rise of interventionist economic theories to utter dominance in academia and public policy circles.

Thus the primary struggle in the first years of the Society was characterized as that between liberalism and totalitarianism, where the former was being shunted aside or actively repressed worldwide as the latter eliminated the rule of law, the rights of the individual, and the right to a free society. 

More recently, the rise of "big government" in the West as well as re-emerging authoritarianism in parts of the world that had previously moved towards democratic, liberal ideas have been of concern. The Society promotes free-market economics and ways to replace many functions currently provided by the government with free enterprise. The Society also advocates in support of freedom of expression and the political values of an open society.

The Bottom Line

Although the lack of a formal, homogenous grouping (and therefore policy statements) make it difficult to judge what impact the group may or may not have had on policy, the fact that there is considerable overlap between members of the group and academia, think tanks, and other organizations imply its ideas are indeed being disseminated into the policy debate.