The French economist Maurice Allais chose not to sign its statement of aims on the ground that its “dogmatic stance” on private property left it “much closer to the laissezfairism of the nineteenth century than to a genuine revival of liberalism.” … Most of his colleagues in the society, however, saw themselves as defenders of theoretical complexity against Communists and planners who advocated misleadingly simple solutions for the social ills of the time. … This superfi cial mode of analysis, he argued, helped provoke the misguided assumption that revolutions could solve the central problems of human history. “Revolutions are sometimes inevitable, but they are almost always a misfortune,” he told the members. “They destroy irreplaceable goods.” … The early members of the society represented their market advocacy as emerging from a skepticism about, rather than a rigid adherence to, theoretical ideals.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 274