Free-market economists and corporatist rightists were forced to compromise by joint campaigns

Evidence

Agustín Edwards founded Chile’s first neoliberal think tank CESEC (Center for Social and Economic Studies) whose main task was to attack the mixed-economy perspectives still popular in leading business circles. Members of the think tank drew up the economic program of the right-wing candidate Jorge Alessandri in the 1970 presidential elections, the emblematic figurehead of gremialism. Of course, he could count on the active support of Jaime Guzmán, who also contributed to his election manifesto and led his youth organization. Interestingly, at that time the free market ideas of the CESEC economists were to some extent opposed by Alessandri’s political team, which favored the traditional right-wing perspectives of a corporativist closed economy. However, gremialista leader Jaime Guzmán was successfully mediating between the market radical and the corporatist factions backing Alessandri and thereby helped to avoid public disagreements with regard to these issues. Although neoliberal economic ideas were not high on Alessandri’s agenda, the campaign was successful in winning important adherents to the Chicago ideas among key businessmen. Moreover, it brought neoliberal economists together with gremialistas in joint concrete action—and forced them to compromise over the common goal (O’Brian and Roddick 1983; Silva 1991, 392). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1559

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses a common assumption that the Chilean right was unified — it internally pitted market radicals against corporatist-closed-economy traditionalists, a tension mirroring the broader Mont Pèlerin network’s own internal debates. — connects to: Free-market liberalism and traditionalist conservatism were irreconcilable uneasy allies — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 375; Economists served fascism by reestablishing the economics-politics divide — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 193; Neoliberal figures deliberately blurred their boundaries with rival right-wing factions

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal figures deliberately blurred their boundaries with rival right-wing factions #expands (0.75)
• Economists served fascism by reestablishing the economics-politics divide #qualifies (0.70) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 193