Toward a Societal Market Economy

As stated in Chapter 1, the objective of this book is to see whether, in view of the flaws of the traditional capitalist system, political scientists and democratic leaders will develop and implement a new balance between state, business and society. The analysis conducted in this book reveals that several important political and social changes are currently taking place, which blur the demarcation line between a “free-market economy” model and a “social democracy” model, and expand the ideological debate to social and ethical values — a debate which goes far beyond the traditional capitalist analysis. The recent economic crisis has resurrected an old issue on the relative merits of different socio-economic models, in particular between conservative and socialist theories. The questions addressed in this chapter are the following: Should the economy evolve toward a societal market economy model based on social democracy? Is there a third way between socialism and capitalism? This debate is crucial at a time when economic crisis has shaken public confidence in the market economy and structural reforms are under way within the EU28.