Think-tanks, policy formation, and the ‘revival’ of classical liberal economics

Abstract

There is a widespread view that the ‘rise of neo-liberalism’ was a deliberate and designed phenomenon, brought about by ideologically motivated actors. Think-tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs are thought to be a key vehicle in this story. The history of the IEA shows that the reality was of a much more messy and unplanned process in which successes resulted from contingent events as well as academic quality and were in any case limited in scope. The early publications of the IEA had limited goals and did not spell out a complete alternative to the post-war consensus. The breakthrough occurred because of a specific crisis in public policy in the early 1970s and owed as much to politicians as intellectuals. The other aspect of this was a move in intellectual influences from the LSE to American institutions, above all Chicago and George Mason Universities.