The Colloque first defined neoliberalism as framework-building rather than laissez-faire

Evidence

Nevertheless, this international meeting became a landmark in the history of liberalism. For the first time, neoliberalism was defined by a set of postulates that constituted an agenda: the use of the price mechanism as the best way to obtain the maximal satisfaction of human expectations; the responsibility of the state for instituting a juridical framework adjusted to the order defined by the market; the possibility for the state to follow goals other than short-term expedients and to further them by levying taxes; the acceptance of state intervention if it does not favor any particular group and seeks to act upon the causes of the economic difficulties. “To be [neo]liberal, said Louis Rougier, doesn’t mean to be a ‘Manchesterian’ who leaves the cars circulating in all directions, if such is their will, which can only result in traffic jams and incessant accidents; it doesn’t mean to be a ‘Planist’ who gives every car its exit time and its route; it means to impose a highway code while admitting that it is not necessary to be the same at the time of the accelerated transports as at the time of diligences.” This metaphor, which Hayek also used in his Road to Serfdom, has an enhanced significance: it supposes that in order to function properly, economic competition requires dedicated institutions. It therefore specifies the type of intervention that is compatible with a liberal economic policy: the state creates the framework within which competition is free. It begins to clarify what a neoliberal state must be: a regulator that punishes deviations from the “correct” legal framework. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 281

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core definition: neoliberalism in its founding formulation = state creates and polices the legal framework of competition, distinct from both Manchesterian laissez-faire and central planning.
• XREF: Rougier’s highway-code metaphor (also in Hayek’s Road to Serfdom) connects to the broader idea in this book—and to the ordoliberal ‘economic constitution’ concept. — connects to: Neoliberalism emerged from practical business advocacy, not abstract theory — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 119; Early neoliberals explicitly distanced themselves from classical laissez-faire doctrine — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 117; Early neoliberalism distinguished itself from laissez-faire by championing competition. (+8 more)
• SHARE: Send to anyone who repeats the lazy claim that neoliberalism = pure deregulation; here is the founding statement that the state must actively build the competitive framework.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 281

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism is activist constructivism, not laissez-faire passivity. #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2125
• Neoliberalism pivoted from the economy to the framework encasing it #corroborates (0.85) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 88
• The term ‘neoliberalism’ was coined at the 1938 Colloque Walter Lippmann #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 775
• A factions split over renewing versus preserving liberalism marked the Colloque’s founding #qualifies (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 280