Whereas Röpke's thinking in particular was nostalgic in some ways, both Benham's and Röpke's reasoning already contained programmatic neoliberal elements of change: conservative reform was prescribed, requiring concessions both from developed countries and from feudal landowners in developing countries. Neoliberal scholarship thus displayed its own moments of critique of the status quo. But we cannot yet observe great confidence in a neoliberal economic perspective. The developmentalist argument was primarily countered with general sociological, moral, and historical arguments.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 1292