At various stages in his professional development, Friedman made pivotal decisions that would not have been possible without the availability of the network of peers assembled by the Mont Pèlerin Society or the existence of the earlystage funding institutions that sustained it. The intellectual environment provided by these institutions provoked a cascading effect, creating opportunities that snowballed until they fundamentally altered the nature and structure of Friedman’s public career. The infl uence of organizations like the Mont Pèlerin Society and the Volker Fund can largely be reduced to their effects on the ideas and activities of their constituents. In the case of Milton Friedman those effects were substantial, with social ramifi cations that exceeded the ambitions that even their found ers espoused.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 395