Abstract
The international business press has been a powerful and influential voice in modern societies and, as its formative years took place during the Cold War, a closer look at the ideologies that were promoted in this part of the press is of interest. Until the 1970s, <em>Farmand</em> was the only Norwegian business magazine of any size and standing. Trygve J. B. Hoff,<em> Farmand</em>’s editor from 1935, was part of the Mont Pèlerin Society (MPS), a neoliberal intellectual collective established in 1947 with participants such as Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. This article is a study of the ideas that Hoff promoted, particularly in <em>Farmand</em>, from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Highlights
During the Cold War, throughout the Western world business media extended its readership and increased its influence over the production of public knowledge, ideology and meaning in society—in particular with regard to what we understand as “neoliberal” ideas (Kjær & Slaatta, 2007; Parsons, 1989)
New business magazines emerged and existing business newspapers went “pink”
They all extended their scope far beyond their traditional readership. This expansion does, have a prehistory in the Nordic countries as well: In Norway, the only business magazine of any considerable size and standing, until the 1970s, was Farmand. This magazine, first established in 1891, is an interesting case because it was an early proponent of neoliberalism in the media during the post-war era—a time when neoliberal thought was still rather marginal
Summary
During the Cold War, throughout the Western world business media extended its readership and increased its influence over the production of public knowledge, ideology and meaning in society—in particular with regard to what we understand as “neoliberal” ideas (Kjær & Slaatta, 2007; Parsons, 1989). Hoff was an influential editor, but the value of studying a magazine like Farmand lies in its broad focus on ideology, history and culture. It published essays and op-eds on business and on art, philosophy and politics during the Cold War, and these traits characterise its editorials. 1), but in later years scholars disagreed on the importance of Hoff’s academic work (Mjøset 2011a, 2011b; Sæther & Hanisch, 2005) After his PhD, Hoff never used his training in economics to seek a career in academia, but it was an important backdrop to his use of the magazine to advocate a political and economic ideology that would eventually exert considerable influence in society. I will present examples that are representative of Hoff’s views on a set of issues, the relationship between economic and political freedom, his views on political friends and foes, the relationship between liberalism and conservatism, between economic and cultural liberalism, and between liberalism and democracy
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