German ordoliberals’ wartime economic critique was not real resistance against Nazism.

Evidence

After the war, Schmölders repeatedly described the workings of this group as resistance against the Third Reich, especially referring to a conference at which a future conspirator against Hitler, Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg, was present. The publication of the proceedings as “Competition as a Means to Enhance Economic Performance and Selection,” which argued that the market mechanism was superior to price controls and state monopolies in stimulating economic performance, was indeed courageous, as any critique was under the conditions of the National Socialist dictatorship. Yet, the contributions hardly amounted to resistance against the Third Reich, as the National Socialists had few fixed views on economic policy, and the book offered suggestions on how to improve it, focusing in particular on the postwar economic order. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 321

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on how postwar German elites retroactively narrated their wartime roles as resistance — a theme readers of German intellectual history will recognize. — connects to: German ordoliberals’ freedom was limited to economic, not political, liberty — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 501; Ordoliberal constitution of the economy was a compromise accommodating Nazi political supremacy — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 585; Non-emigrant ordoliberals designed their economic concepts for implementation under Nazi government — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 539
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: what exactly did the National Socialists’ ‘few fixed views on economic policy’ amount to, and how did ordoliberal doctrine later get laundered as anti-Nazi?

Broader Connections

• Non-emigrant ordoliberals designed their economic concepts for implementation under Nazi government #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 539
• Ordoliberal constitution of the economy was a compromise accommodating Nazi political supremacy #qualifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 585
• German ordoliberals’ freedom was limited to economic, not political, liberty #responds-to (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 501