Whereas in the 1930s this set of ideas could find an audience beyond traditional liberal circles (attracting, for instance, trade-union leaders), this became impossible in the context of the Cold War. Neoliberalism was defended in the 1930s by some of the most renowned economists and businessmen, but its advocates formed only a minority within the intellectual field of the 1960s: French neoliberalism had become radicalized in opposition to the expansion of the welfare state. However, the conceptions traditionally associated with French neoliberalism subsequently spread into other groups. By the time French liberalism enjoyed a revival in the 1970s and 1980s, neoliberalism had already inspired governmental practice but was condemned by new neoliberals for its supposed collusion with social democracy.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 273