Adrian Shephard

Influenced by the writings of the great Frederic Bastiat, Vilfredo Pareto promoted free markets and economic liberalism in 19th-century Europe. Pareto also made a number of important contributions to economic theory and practice.

The original Mont Pelerin Society meeting in 1947 featured Ludwig von Mises, whose warnings about the dangers of socialism and totalitarianism had gone unheeded. In the wreckage of World War II, the truth of his message should have been obvious. It wasn't.

With Europe moving toward conflict in 1938, a number of economists and other intellectuals met in Paris to try to revitalize liberalism. Ludwig von Mises also was there as a lonely voice defending laissez-faire and the free market economy.