ABOUT MONTY PELERIN’S WORLD

Personal Info

“Monty Pelerin” is a pseudonym derived from The Mont Pelerin Society. For background on the Society, see below. The image on the left is that of Friedrich Hayek, Nobel laureate in Economics in 1974. He was the founding force of the Mont Pelerin Society. The image on the right is the Mises family crest. Ludwig von Mises was Hayek’s mentor and considered the dean of the Austrian School of Economics.

My background includes corporate and academic endeavors. I performed mostly as Chief Financial Officer for several companies. Academically, I have advanced degrees in both Finance and Economics, including the terminal PhD degree. My academic training included in-depth exposure to both Keynesian and Monetarist economics. I have taught Finance and Economics at the graduate level. Real world experience led me to Austrian Economics, which I have studied for the past quarter century. This branch of economics, in my opinion, best represents how people and economies behave. Its neglect by policy makers is a chief reason for our economic problems, and why most policy responses are harmful rather than helpful.

I am retired and have time to share my views on society. I am open to any suggestions as to how to do so, and what people would most like to see and discuss. It is my first attempt at blogging. To set the blog up took an inordinate amount of time for me and probably could have been accomplished in a day or less by the average 15-year old.

Aims of Site

What I hope to eventually achieve with this site is an educational conduit to views that are no longer fashionable. I would like it to be a two-way pipe, hearing from others regarding issues and views. The site will deal primarily with Finance, Economics and Politics. It is not an investment advice site, but thoughts that may or may not be beneficial to investors may be offered. I am open to any and all thoughts as to how the site might be improved, topics of interest, etc. I hope to hear from some of you regarding these and other issues.

Up in age, I have trouble accepting the nonsense that passes for wisdom in both the political and economic arenas. Thus, many of my posts will show a certain amount of (deserved) disrespect for what passes for acceptable policies. I attempt to muzzle such inclinations somewhat, but when you see how your country is disintegrating, it is difficult to do so. Anyone concerned with inter-generational equity has to be similarly concerned. Those of us that have the title of Grandfather or Grandmother have personal as well as philosophical concerns. If I offend some, I am not necessarily sorry. I am more than willing to have a polite intellectual discussion on all topics in this blog and hope that others will be encouraged to do the same. I undoubtedly will make mistakes and expect to be told about them. For any, I apologize in advance and will do so when they are identified.

I have no team in the sense that many of you might. That is, I neither root for or against the Democrats or the Republicans. If anything, I see little difference between them and can be considered an equal-opportunity hater. I believe that Government, in limited form, is both necessary and good. However, government that grows beyond these limits becomes a State, infringing on liberty and property. (I would hope most of us would agree on this general principle, although realize we may have different opinions regarding what size or functions are appropriate.) Our government and most around the world have become States, preying on their citizens. While governments are good, States are evil.

Mont Pelerin Society

As expressed on the official Mont Pelerin Society site (with emphasis added by me):

After World War II, in 1947, when many of the values of Western civilization were imperiled, 36 scholars, mostly economists, with some historians and philosophers, were invited by Professor Friedrich von Hayek to meet at Mont Pelerin, near Montreux, Switzerland, to discuss the state and the possible fate of liberalism (in its classical sense) in thinking and practice.

The group described itself as the Mont Pelerin Society, after the place of the first meeting. It emphasized that it did not intend to create an orthodoxy, to form or align itself with any political party or parties, or to conduct propaganda. Its sole objective was to facilitate an exchange of ideas between like-minded scholars in the hope of strengthening the principles and practice of a free society and to study the workings, virtues, and defects of market-oriented economic systems.

It was in this context that I chose my pseudonym. The writer has no connection with the Society (other than coincidence of philosophical ideas). Nothing said by me should be considered to be representative of the views of the Mont Pelerin Society or any of its members.

Books

One way to learn about a person’s views is to look at the types of books he reads. A recommended book list is not available yet. There is a large collection of quotes available on this site.