The Conjoint Quest for a Liberal Positive Program : 'Old Chicago', Freiburg and Hayek

James M. Buchanan's contributions of 2009-2011 to the post-crisis debate in political economy emphasized the necessity to re-examine the legacy of the “Old Chicago” School. The focus of the current paper is, by following Buchanan's plea, to explore the central topoi in the 1930s debates of the Chicago School as seen from the work of Henry C. Simons and discuss the impact of these debates on the academic arena on both sides of the Atlantic. F.A. Hayek is highlighted as the focal scholar who possibly transmits these topoi that influence the rise of Freiburg ordoliberalism in Germany from the mid-1930s onwards. We revisit the Mont Pèlerin Society 1947 first meeting's minutes and papers and show in detail the proximity in mind of “Old Chicago”, Hayek and the Freiburg School ordoliberals. This comparative analysis includes the general rule-based approaches to political economy as well as economic policy recommendations, especially in the fields of competition policy and monetary policy