ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the main strands of neoliberal thinking, from the early twentieth century into the post-1945 period. It breaks down the term into a series of 'schools', building on the recent literature articulating a 'family' of 'neoliberalisms'. These include some that may be familiar, such as Milton Friedman's Chicago School, and others that are lesser known, such as the Ordoliberal – or Freiburg – School. With socialist thought in the ascendency in the late nineteenth century, Carl Menger founded the Austrian School, studying classical economic thought, in 1870s Vienna. The Freiburg School was committed to a market economy but also held that the state had a role to play in providing the conditions necessary for it to operate. Ordoliberalism was the first comprehensive market response to the challenges of socialism. Interrupted by the war, it was not until 1947 that Hayek managed to secure a more formal organization, the Mont Pelerin Society, named after its initial Swiss venue.
