Professor Schwartz elected President of Mont Pelerin Society

11 September 2014

Professor Pedro SchwartzThe Mont Pelerin Society, one of the most prestigious liberal think tanks in the world, has elected Professor Pedro Schwartz for its President for the next two years. He is the first Spaniard to be a President of the MPS. Professor Schwartz is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Economics and International Studies at The University of Buckingham.

The Mont Pelerin Society was founded in 1947 by Friedrich Hayek in a small Swiss village overlooking Lac Leman. Among the first to take part in that first meeting there were philosophers such as Karl Popper, historians such as Bertrand de Jouvenel, politicians such as Ludwig Erhard and economists such as Milton Friedman. They declared that their aim was then to face the crisis of values at the end of the Second World War, by redefining the role of the State to free it from totalitarian abuses, by contributing to the reestablishment of the rule of law in defence of individual liberties, by trying to make minimum welfare compatible with the free market, by fostering an international free trade order, and by countering the misuse of history by the enemies of freedom.

Today’s members of the MPS are moved by the same ideals. Their method of work is to exchange views at the two meetings a year, since they firmly believe that it is ideas that lead societies along the path of freedom.