German Neoliberalism and the Idea of a Social Market Economy: Free Economy and the Strong State

Abstract

The German ordoliberal tradition developed in the Germany of the Weimar Republic amidst a server crisis of an entire political economy. It proposed a neoliberalism in which free economy is the practice of the strong state. It rejected laissez-faire liberalism as a deist idea that is unable to defend free economy at a time of need. For them free economy is only possible by means of strong state authority to contain the proletarianisation of workers, and they developed neoliberal social policy proposals to transform workers into citizens of private property. This transformation is a matter of an ever vigilant security state that may resort of dictatorial means of imposing order in case of a liberal emergency. The article presents the main ideas of ordoliberalism and argues that the present crisis has led to the resurgence of the strong as the concentrated force of economy, as ordoliberalism says it must.