ABSTRACT
As in other Western industrial societies of a liberal-capitalist nature, social and economic discussions in the Federal Republic of Germany were dominated from the mid-1970s by the neo-liberals. However, the latter had to wait until the autumn of 1982 before they could begin to think about implementing their strategies. It was a conservative-liberal government, comprising the Christian Democrats of the CDU-CSU (its Bavarian sister party) and the liberals of the FDP, which was the first to include in its programme its intention of reducing state influence on the private economy and of strengthening market forces. The new government also clearly defined its position on the privatisation of public property: it underlined in its 1983 annual economy report its desire to work for a policy that would reduce the activities of the state to those that were appropriate, to transfer as far as possible public services to the private sector and to privatise public goods whenever possible without harming the interests of the state.
