German ordoliberals rejected laissez-faire, insisting markets need moral and institutional frameworks

Evidence

Few were as vocal in their rejection of laissez-faire as the German ordoliberals Röpke and Rüstow. During the war, both men lived in Istanbul, where President Kemal Atatürk’s attempt to secularise and modernise Turkey prompted them to focus on the moral and religious foundations of a competitive market economy. … The ordoliberals accepted that, by promoting mutual dependence, ‘the division of labour can be conceived as one of the most potent civilizing factors’. But theirs was not a straightforward ‘sweetness of commerce’ thesis; they regarded competition as morally dangerous and believed that, left alone, the market would not produce the necessary ‘lubricant of morals, sentiments and institutions’. Röpke derided the invisible hand as a ’ “philosopher’s stone” that turned the base metal of callous business sentiments into the pure gold of common welfare and solidarity’. A competitive market order, the ordoliberals argued, required an institutional framework and ‘a generally observed and undisputed code of moral norms and principles of behavior’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 118

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ordoliberalism against the conventional equation of market thinking with laissez-faire — useful contrast for the reader’s market-ethics debate.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s existing work on neoliberalism and market ethics; ordoliberal market-morality contradicts the assumption that market advocates reject moral regulation. — connects to: Ordoliberals rejected laissez-faire because markets need moral and institutional scaffolding — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 118; 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; German ordoliberalism favors state framework provision over neoliberal state withdrawal. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 164 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: Why did Atatürk’s secularizing project specifically prompt ordoliberal reflection on market morality?

Broader Connections

• Ordoliberals rejected laissez-faire because markets need moral and institutional scaffolding #corroborates (1.00) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 118
• Early neoliberalism rejected laissez-faire in favor of a state-built competitive order. #expands (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 365
• A German economist rejected homo economicus in favor of a culturally embedded homo institutionalis #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 329
• German ordoliberalism favors state framework provision over neoliberal state withdrawal. #expands (0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 164
• Early neoliberals rejected laissez-faire and wanted strong state action #expands (0.80)
• Neoliberalism rejects laissez-faire in favor of perpetual constructionist state intervention #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 148