Chile's transformation into an exemplary laboratory of neoliberalism owed much to Harberger's Chicago Boys. On 12 September 1973, the morning after the coup, their 189-page economic programme, El Ladrillo ('The Brick') was on the desk of every major figure in the new regime. It called for trade liberalisation and tariff reductions; widespread privatisation, including of social security; and a regressive value-added tax. In 1993, Harberger noted with satisfaction that this vision was now overwhelmingly accepted by all of Chile's major parties, while, at the time, the Chicago programme was 'too market-oriented, too open-economy, and too technocratic' even for the traditional Chilean right. In 1975, Friedman met with Pinochet to convince him that Chile's economy required 'shock treatment', primarily in the form of a drastic reduction in public spending. The general, Friedman noted, 'was sympathetically attracted to the idea of a shock treatment but was clearly distressed at the possible temporary unemployment that might be caused'. In the wake of his visit, Friedman wrote to Pinochet to stiffen his resolve: 'There is no way to end the inflation that will not involve a temporary transitional period of severe difficulties, including unemployment'.

Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, loc. 322