Neoliberals split into warring factions over fixed versus floating exchange rates

Evidence

Yet, Matthias Schmelzer shows that, while the core faith in the right of capital to move across borders was shared by all neoliberals, the debate over monetary order split the Mont Pèlerin Society into warring factions in the 1950s and 1960s as the older gold bugs faced off against the younger advocates of floating, including Milton Friedman. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 41

Categorization

• QUESTION: The internal gold-standard-vs-floating debate is a key internal fracture — worth mapping exactly which thinkers lined up on each side, since Friedman being a floater contradicts generic ‘neoliberal = deregulated casino capitalism’.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberals pushed floating exchange rates and open capital flows that disciplined welfare spending. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 792; Floating exchange rates triumphed despite starting as a minority view even among neoliberals — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 445; Neoliberalism was internally divided over monetary policy for decades — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 410 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals were deeply divided over monetary order despite claims of unity #corroborates (0.95) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 435
• Neoliberalism was internally divided over monetary policy for decades #expands (0.92) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 410
• Floating exchange rates triumphed despite starting as a minority view even among neoliberals #complicates (0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 445
• Early neoliberals favored the gold standard and opposed floating rates #contradicts (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 428
• Neoliberalism is internally diverse and marked by real internal conflict #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 45
• Interwar inflation trauma made floating exchange rates widely unthinkable #complicates (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 418
• Fixed and floating exchange rates operate by opposite logics #expands (0.72) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 121