Chicago-trained economists spread neoliberal ideas among Chilean capitalists through business associations

Evidence

In the face of the political shift to the left, with the Frei administration initiating an agrarian reform alongside educational reforms and other redistribution measures, the right-wing forces in Chile began to forge direct contacts and networks within and outside the public sphere. Crucial protagonists in this regard were the representatives of the conglomerates (O’Brian and Roddick 1983; Silva 1996). Many of the top leaders of the conglomerates either were trained in Chicago (Manuel Cruzat, head of the Cruzat-Larraín group, for example) or collaborated closely with the neoliberal economists from the late 1950s onward. On behalf of these powerful groups, the economists conducted courses at SOFOFA (Sociedad de Fomento Fabril / Federation for the Promotion of Industry), the industrialists’ association, to win private-sector converts for their ideas. Important public channels were opened by media mogul Álvaro Saieh, who also had a Ph.D. from Chicago, and by the publisher of the influential daily newspaper El Mercurio, Agustín Edwards. The Edwards group was one of the conglomerates involved in the printing, paper, and packing industries, as well as in finance, mining, and consumer goods production (Silva 1996; also see Dahse 1979). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1557

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Extends the ‘Grafting & Growth’ piece’s infrastructure theme into a different register: here social-infrastructure networks (business associations, media conglomerates) are what the Chicago economists graft their ideas onto to win private-sector converts.
• XREF: Connects to the Milgrom law-merchant material on how private institutions (chambers of commerce, industrialists’ associations) transmit reputational and ideological norms within a community. — connects to: Fannie Mae commissioned economists across the political spectrum as lobbying ammunition — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2264; American business anti-union factions recruited MPS economists for legitimacy — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 967; Over 150 Chilean economists were trained in Chicago across three decades. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1551 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism rose to hegemony through transnational networks of scholars and allies #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81