Dr Oliver Hartwich: To stop megaphone populists triumphing, we need unlikely left-right alliance

To many on the political left, the Mont Pelerin Society represents something akin to a spectre. It is frequently portrayed as a secretive cabal of market fundamentalists operating in the shadows to dismantle the state and privatise the public sphere. The caricature suggests a group of ideologues plotting the erosion of social cohesion for the benefit of the few.

The reality of this international academy of classical liberal scholars is rather different. It was founded in 1947 by thinkers including Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Karl Popper.