German financial psychology rejected the assumption that citizens are malleable material for state designs

Evidence

Referring to the German sociologist Hans Freyer, who had advocated a “revolution from the right” in Weimar Germany and turned conservative again after his disillusionment with National Socialism, Schmölders rejected the belief in the “malleability of everything” (die Machbarkeit aller Dinge). He considered it wrong to conceive of citizens as the mere material of political designs. On the contrary, Schmölders argued that human nature set the boundaries for political interventions into society and economy. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 334

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces ‘Machbarkeit aller Dinge’ as a load-bearing concept in the conservative critique of interventionism.
• XREF: connects to: German economists ignored Schmölders’s behavioral-research program — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 330; German savings research found workers lacked the inner prerequisites to accumulate capital — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 335; A German economist rejected homo economicus in favor of a culturally embedded homo institutionalis — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 329 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A German economist rejected homo economicus in favor of a culturally embedded homo institutionalis #expands (0.82) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 329
• German ordoliberalism favors state framework provision over neoliberal state withdrawal. #qualifies (0.78) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 164
• Ordoliberal market design failed because it assumed an abstract ideal society #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 552