American business anti-union factions recruited MPS economists for legitimacy

Evidence

In November 1946, he received an offer from William K. Jackson, ACC president and United Fruit Corporation chairman, to deliver a paper on wage determination to an ACC Economic Institute gathering. Jackson signaled: “we strongly believe that nothing today threatens our competitive economy more, at this particular time, than the superficiality with which we generally see the issues in our collective-bargaining controversies” (Jackson to Machlup, November 25, 1946, HIA FMP, 30.14). But Jackson also enlisted Machlup’s help in changing current attitudes toward wage determination prevalent among ACC members. Indeed, the ACC was then divided between firms that had already accepted New Deal policies and labor practices with their consequences for the collective bargaining machinery and nonunion firms that had resisted such a trend. Thus, according to Jackson, this particular ACC meeting was intended to serve as a rallying point for nonunion enterprises, fortifying those who wanted to hear some protolibertarian voices on union policy. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 967

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the concrete corporate patronage channel linking MPS intellectuals to anti-New-Deal business interests, a theme echoed in later accounts of libertarian funding networks. — connects to: Fannie Mae commissioned economists across the political spectrum as lobbying ammunition — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2264; Personal-capital firms formed an organization defending owners against state and unions — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 290; Neoliberal ideas reframed anti-union business positions as good judgment rather than reactionary politics — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1474 (+1 more)
• SEED: Angle: the corporate ‘rallying point’ strategy, nonunion firms using economists as ideological cover, parallels modern think-tank funding networks.
• QUESTION: How extensive was business patronage of MPS members beyond Jackson’s ACC outreach?

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal ideas reframed anti-union business positions as good judgment rather than reactionary politics #corroborates (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1474
• Chicago-trained economists spread neoliberal ideas among Chilean capitalists through business associations #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1557