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The Mont Pelerin Society

The Mont Pelerin Society was established on April 10, 1947, at the Hotel du Parc in the Swiss village of Mont Pèlerin, near Vevey on Lake Geneva, organized by Friedrich August Hayek. Thirty-nine scholars — mostly economists, with some historians and philosophers — attended the inaugural meeting. The founding was concurrent with the drafting of the International Trade Organization (ITO) charter at the opposite end of Lake Geneva in Geneva itself.

Initial funding for the 1947 conference came from four sources: the William Volker Fund (via Harold Luhnow), the Bank of England (via Alfred Suenson-Taylor), the Foundation for Economic Education (Irvington-on-Hudson, New York), and the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt — today Credit Suisse — which alone paid 93 percent of total conference costs: 18,062.08 Swiss francs. Presidents have included: Hayek (1947–1961), Milton Friedman (1970–1972), George Stigler (1976–1978), James M. Buchanan (1984–1986), Gary Becker (1990–1992), Edwin Feulner of the Heritage Foundation (1996–1998), and Deirdre McCloskey (current). Charles Koch has been a member since 1970. A 2010 membership list of nearly 500 members from 52 countries showed that Koch family foundations (Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, David H. Koch Charitable Foundation) had poured more than $100 million into at least 54 organizations represented by MPS members. Hayek used MPS as a direct forum to encourage members to build think tanks. Antony Fisher, an MPS member, founded:

• Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) — London, 1955

• Manhattan Institute for Policy Research — New York, 1977

• Atlas Economic Research Foundation — 1981 (now the Atlas Network).

DeSmog research found MPS members affiliated with over 100 organisations on the Atlas Network membership list. Connected organisations include: the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution, Reason Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, Fraser Institute, Mercatus Center (George Mason University), Heartland Institute, Adam Smith Institute, CIVITAS, IEA, Institute of Public Affairs (Australia), and the Acton Institute. Eight MPS members won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences: Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Maurice Allais, James M. Buchanan, Ronald Coase, Gary Becker, and Vernon Smith. Graeme Maxton and Jørgen Randers have documented that MPS helped create the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences specifically to legitimise free-market economic thinking.