ABSTRACT

This volume takes a broad perspective on the recent debate on the role of German ordoliberalism in shaping European economic policy before and after the eurozone crisis. It shows how ordoliberal scholars explain the institutional origins of the eurozone crisis, and presents creative policy proposals for the future of the European economy.

Ordoliberal discourse both attempts to offer political solutions to socioeconomic challenges, and to find an ideal market order that fosters individual freedom and social cohesion. This tension between realpolitik and economic utopia reflects the wider debate on how far economic theory shapes, and is shaped by, historical contingencies and institutions.

The volume will be of interest to policymakers as well as research scholars, and graduate students from various disciplines ranging from economics to political science, history, and philosophy.

chapter |20 pages

Ordoliberalism and European economic policy

An introduction

part I|2 pages

The historical and contemporaneous roots of ordoliberalism

chapter 2|19 pages

Ordoliberalism and democracy

How the interwar period changed the agenda of German liberalism

chapter 3|16 pages

A new Thirty Years War?

Protestant ordoliberalism and the reemergence of the North–South conflict

part II|2 pages

Ordoliberal explanations of the eurozone crisis

chapter 8|7 pages

The D-mark and the euro

Prerequisites for a stable currency

chapter 10|16 pages

Germany and the euro crisis

Ordoliberalism in the dock

chapter 11|8 pages

Ten commandments to overcome the eurozone’s many crises

If the EMU is to succeed, it must be developed based on rules

chapter 13|15 pages

Ordoliberalism and the eurozone crisis

Toward a more perfect market of jurisdictions?

part III|2 pages

Advancements of the ordoliberal framework after the crisis

chapter 14|16 pages

Toward a European social market economy?

The normative legacy of Walter Eucken, Alexander Rüstow, and beyond

chapter 15|14 pages

The enigma of German ordoliberalism

Is there a future for a European social market economy?

chapter 17|21 pages

Ordoliberalism and beyond

Economic liberalism for the 21st century