MPS members rejected laissez-faire while insisting neoliberal principles suited underdeveloped countries

Evidence

In stark contrast to Hartwell’s (1995) emphasis on Bauer and Frankel, his summary stated that Louis Baudin, Wilhelm Röpke, and John Jewkes “had the most penetrating analysis to offer of development plans on the collectivist pattern, while Henry Hazlitt … criticized President Truman’s Point Four program rather severely. The net result … may be … that there can be no general therapy for the development of under-developed countries… . Hasty and ill/considered schemes will merely make things easier for Communism.” If it is sometimes difficult to find authors openly professing to neoliberalism, Mötteli was unafraid of displaying neoliberal self-confidence: “But while the old system of laisser faire, laisser aller is as much out of the question in underdeveloped areas as elsewhere, hope exists that the principles and policies of neoliberalism will find a promising field of activity and development there” (Mötteli 1951, 23; emphasis added). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1279

Categorization

• DEFINE: Captures the defining early-neoliberal position: anti-laissez-faire, anti-collectivist, pro-ordered-liberal intervention — the very formulation that distinguishes the MPS from classical liberals.
• XREF: Mirrors the reader’s prior sources on MPS founding (1947) — this 1951 session shows the same self-positioning applied to development economics. — connects to: Neoliberalism rejects laissez-faire in favor of perpetual constructionist state intervention — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 148; Prominent French intellectuals rejected the MPS’s specific brand of liberalism — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 292; Early MPS neoliberals rejected universal industrialization in favor of local diversity. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1291 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Early neoliberals rejected laissez-faire and wanted strong state action #corroborates (0.95)
• Early MPS neoliberals rejected universal industrialization in favor of local diversity. #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1291
• Ordoliberals rejected laissez-faire because markets need moral and institutional scaffolding #corroborates (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 118
• Neoliberalism rejected laissez-faire’s faith that free trade naturally spread peace and harmony #qualifies (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 264