Editing Chicago Boys (section)

==Background and Formation==
University of Chicago Connection: The Chicago Boys emerged from a U.S.-funded exchange program between the University of Chicago and Chile’s Catholic University (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) in the 1950s. Initiated in 1956 through a "U.S. Agency for International Development" (USAID) grant, the program aimed to counter 'Marxist' economic influence in Latin America by training Chilean students in free-market principles. In most cases, there were no Marxist economic influence but a trend toward nationalism and away from US corporation's control of their economies. Approximately 25–30 Chileans studied under Friedman, Harberger, and others, earning master’s or doctoral degrees between 1957 and 1970.

Neoliberal Ideology: The Chicago School emphasized minimal government intervention, free markets, and monetarism (controlling money supply to curb inflation). The Chicago Boys adopted these ideas, advocating for privatization of state enterprises, reduction of trade barriers, and fiscal austerity, contrasting with Chile’s statist economic traditions under presidents like Eduardo Frei Montalva and Salvador Allende. This theory promoted US corporations expansion and imperialism using economic means.

Pre-Pinochet Influence: Before the 1973 coup, the Chicago Boys were a marginal group within Chile’s economic circles, overshadowed by structuralist and nationalist policies. They worked in academia, think tanks like the Center for Social and Economic Studies (CESEC), and advised conservative politicians like Jorge Alessandri. Their blueprint, “El Ladrillo” (The Brick), a 1973 economic plan drafted for the opposition, outlined neoliberal reforms later implemented under Pinochet.