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Ordoliberalism, Pragmatism and the Eurozone Crisis: How the German Tradition Shaped Economic Policy in Europe

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  • Lars P. Feld
  • Ekkehard A. Köhler
  • Daniel Nientiedt

Abstract

German policy during the Eurozone crisis supposedly follows an ordoliberal tradition. In this paper, we discuss to what extent this contention holds and to what extent Germany pragmatically responded to different crisis phenomena. A proper analysis of ordoliberal thinking reveals that the European Monetary Union can be justified on ordoliberal grounds as an economic constitution for Europe in which several pillars supposedly aim at ensuring sound money in the Eurozone. The policies the German government pushed during the Eurozone crisis have been informed by the ordoliberal tradition. In particular, this tradition may explain why the German government has been hesitant to support the call for Eurobonds and has only reluctantly established the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). However, the decisions on the ESM and the acceptance of unconventional monetary policy in Europe show that German economic policy largely responded pragmatically to the challenges offered by the crisis.

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  • Lars P. Feld & Ekkehard A. Köhler & Daniel Nientiedt, 2015. "Ordoliberalism, Pragmatism and the Eurozone Crisis: How the German Tradition Shaped Economic Policy in Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 5368, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5368
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    Cited by:

    1. Malte Dold & Tim Krieger, 2023. "The ideological use and abuse of Freiburg’s ordoliberalism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 341-361, June.
    2. Pühringer, Stephan, 2016. "Still the queens of social sciences? (Post-)Crisis power balances of "public economists" in Germany," Working Paper Series Ök-22, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Institut für Ökonomie.
    3. Lars P. Feld & Ekkehard A. Köhler, 2023. "Standing on the shoulders of giants or science? Lessons from ordoliberalism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 197-211, June.
    4. Jonathan White, 2017. "Between Rules and Discretion: Thoughts on Ordo-liberalism," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 126, European Institute, LSE.
    5. Jörg Bibow, 2018. "How Germany’s anti-Keynesianism has brought Europe to its knees," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 569-588, September.
    6. Stephan Puehringer, 2016. "Think Tank networks of German neoliberalism. Power structures in economics and economic policies in post-war Germany," ICAE Working Papers 53, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    7. Troels Krarup, 2019. "‘Ordo’ versus ‘Ordnung’: Catholic or Lutheran roots of German ordoliberal economic theory?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 66(3), pages 305-323, September.
    8. Guter-Sandu, Andrei & Murau, Steffen, 2022. "The Eurozone’s evolving fiscal ecosystem: mitigating fiscal discipline by governing through off-balance-sheet fiscal agencies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 109790, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Stephan Puehringer, 2021. "Zur Pluralitaet der oekonomischen Politikberatung in Deutschland," ICAE Working Papers 132, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    10. Feld, Lars P. & Köhler, Ekkehard A. & Nientiedt, Daniel, 2021. "Ordoliberalism and the social market economy," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 21/5, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    11. Feld, Lars P. & Nientiedt, Daniel, 2023. "Examining the ordoliberal tradition in classical liberal thought," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 23/5, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    12. Feld Lars P. & Köhler Ekkehard A. & Nientiedt Daniel, 2018. "Die Europäische Währungsunion aus traditioneller und moderner ordnungsökonomischer Perspektive," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 69(1), pages 65-84, July.
    13. Werner Bonefeld, 2018. "Stateless Money and State Power: Europe as ordoliberal Ordnungsgef?ge," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 5-26.
    14. Jakob Kapeller & Stephan Puehringer & Christian Grimm, 2022. "Paradigms and policies: the state of economics in the German-speaking countries," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 1183-1210, July.
    15. Feld, Lars P. & Köhler, Ekkehard A. & Nientiedt, Daniel, 2017. "The "dark ages" of German macroeconomics and other alleged shortfalls in German economic thought," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 17/03, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    16. Hien, Josef, 2017. "The European Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Danger of Ideational Monocultures," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 115-124.
    17. Peter Spahn, 2016. "Central Bank Design in a Non-optimal Currency Union A Lender of Last Resort for Government Debt?," ROME Working Papers 201610, ROME Network.
    18. Jürgen Wandel, 2019. "Prospects for an ordoliberal reform of the European Union," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 28-43, February.
    19. Hien, Josef, 2019. "The Religious Foundations of the European Crisis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 185-204.
    20. Daniel Nientiedt, 2019. "Metaphysical justification for an economic constitution? Franz Böhm and the concept of natural law," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 114-129, March.
    21. Stefano Figuera & Guglielmo Forges Davanzati & Andrea Pacella, 2022. "Considerations on the Legacy of Ordoliberalism in European Monetary Policy," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 95-122.
    22. Winkler Adalbert, 2018. "Zehn Jahre nach dem Konkurs von Lehman Brothers: Ordnungspolitische Irrtümer in der Bewertung der EZB-Geldpolitik seit der globalen Finanzkrise," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 141-162, July.
    23. Laica, Christoph & Lauber, Arne & Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Sequential round-robin tournaments with multiple prizes," BERG Working Paper Series 129, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    24. Forte Francesco, 2018. "Röpke and Einaudi: from the Civitas of Persons to the Idea of Europe," Journal for Markets and Ethics, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, June.
    25. George K. Zestos & Harrison Whittleton & Alejandro Fernandez-Ribas, 2022. "Reflections on Angela Merkel's Career as Chancellor of Germany and the Greek Financial Odyssey," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_1010, Levy Economics Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ordoliberalism; Eurozone crisis; constitutional economics; monetary and fiscal policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)
    • B26 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Financial Economics
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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