Early neoliberals framed market competition as dependent on prior moral virtues.

Evidence

The early neoliberals saw themselves as fighting for more than an economic programme; at stake, they believed, was the survival of ‘Western civilization’. Faced with widespread demands for socialism, state welfare provision and economic planning, they turned their attention to the moral values and subjective qualities underpinning a competitive market order. ‘Self-discipline, a sense of justice, honesty, fairness, chivalry, moderation, public spirit, respect for human dignity, firm ethical norms – all of these are things which people must possess before they go to market and compete with each other’, wrote the German ordoliberal, Wilhelm Röpke. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 70

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s existing interest in market ethics — Röpke’s claim that moral virtues precede market competition is a causal claim about markets depending on non-market foundations. — connects to: Early neoliberalism subordinated economic machinery to a prior moral authority and rule of law — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 363; Neoliberal competitiveness outpaces its communitarian moral underpinnings, fueling populism. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 33; Early neoliberals depicted civilization as indistinguishably moral, racial and economic — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 63 (+10 more)
• DEFINE: Clarifies ordoliberal/North Atlantic neoliberalism’s moral-virtue account of market conditions.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals framed the spread of markets as dependent on moral and religious foundations #corroborates (0.95) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 120
• Neoliberals conditioned self-government on accepting market discipline #expands (0.72) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 297