German ordoliberalism inverted the classical liberal problem of limiting the state

Evidence

The problem they had to resolve was the following: given the existence of a legitimate state, which is already functioning in the fully and completely administrative form of a police state, how can we limit this existing state and, above all, allow for the necessary economic freedom within it? The problem the Germans had to resolve was the exact opposite: given a state that does not exist, how can we get it to exist on the basis of this non-state space of economic freedom? — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics, 560

Categorization

• DEFINE: This defines the core reversal that distinguishes German ordoliberalism from classical French/physiocratic liberalism — states born from economic freedom rather than limited by it.
• SEED: An argument that national economic ideologies are defined by which problem their founding state faced — limitation versus creation.
• XREF: connects to: German ordoliberalism favors state framework provision over neoliberal state withdrawal. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 164; Austrian economics constituted the original reactionary rejection of state-managed liberalism — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 315; Ordoliberalism inverted classical liberalism by making economic effectiveness depend on political and legal systems — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 362 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Ordoliberalism departed from classical liberalism by grounding markets in a constitutional framework #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1087