Germany's Social Market Economy : Origins and Evolution

This volume is a collection of ten essays in which the authors assess the contribution of the German Ordo-liberals 50 years after the founders of the liberal movement in Germany stated their aims and objectives.

The Ordo-liberals were a group of liberal economic and legal thinkers in the Federal Republic of Germany who came into prominence as a result of their influence on, and participation in, post war economic policy in the Federal Republic when Ludwig Erhard was Minister for Economic Affairs and later Chancellor.

They became known as Ordo-liberals because of their commitment to designing the appropriate economic and legal system.

The essays in this volume consider not only the philosophy of the Ordo-liberals and their concept of the social market economy, they are also concerned with the contribution of the Ordo-liberals to more practical problems.

The role of the public sector, the control of mergers and monopolies and the problem of sound money are among the topics considered as well as the views of the Ordo-liberals on the international order.

Many of the authors of these essays are well known internationally and they represent a wide range of contemporary liberal thought. The book will be warmly welcomed by students and scholars interested in economic philosophy and the place of liberalism in contemporary thought.