Supported from abroad, De Soto's institute grew in size, developed its advocacy campaign, and inserted itself into the processes of government. During the administration of Alan Garcia, in the second half of the 1980s, it became directly involved in policy making. ILD lawyers drew up proposals for property-rights legislation and administrative reforms. To promote the legislation, the ILD produced television commercials that, borrowing from American state lottery commercials, invited people to dream: “What would you do if you had capital?” By 1991, the Institute had a staff of 100. Victor Endo, an ILD lawyer who later worked at the World Bank, claimed that the think tank became “a kind of school for the country. Most of the important ministers, lawyers, journalists, and economists in Peru are ILD alumni” (Kleiner 2004).

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 1950