ABSTRACT
Mark Blyth was one of the first academics to make a connection between the German austerity culture and ordoliberalism. The origin of the social market economy goes back to the German economist Alfred Muller-Armack, A., who coined the term Soziale Marktwirtschaft after World War II to rebuild, with Ludwig Erhard, a warn-torn German economy. Interpreting market failures as integral to free markets, Müller-Armack, A stipulated that since the constant adaptation of the market economy imposes high social hardships, which individuals are forced to bear in their helpless and anonymous role, it is important to reduce justified and unjustified fears arising from the mechanism of free markets. The European Court of Justice has often strengthened the freedom of competition over fundamental social rights. Its judgment meant that national social rights, such as the right to strike, collective agreements, or pursuing wage policies were not allowed to interfere ‘excessively’ with the freedom of competition.
