Ordoliberalism modernized liberalism while keeping its economics classical and supply-side.

Evidence

In sum, postwar Germany prospered with austerity-focused ideas of a particular type at its core. Germany both possesses and professes a liberalism that embraces the state and transforms it. In doing so, it does the same for austerity. The fact that ordoliberalism, ordnungspolitik, and the rest, are all about rules means precisely that good economic governance is not about spending. If the rules establish a framework within which prosperity is established through the enhancement of competition, then the supply side of saving and investment, rather than the demand side and consumption, still rules the day. Ordoliberalism may have modernized liberalism, but its economics in many ways remain as classical as Smith and Hume. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 373

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precise characterization of ordoliberalism’s core: rule-based, supply-side, pro-state-but-anti-spending liberalism.
• XREF: Useful distinction for Mattei comparisons and for the austerity-as-rules argument. — connects to: Modern austerity arguments trace directly to Einaudi’s Bocconi school of ordoliberal economics — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 450; Ordoliberalism sought growth through product quality competition as a supply-side Say’s law — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 365; Ordoliberalism departed from classical liberalism by grounding markets in a constitutional framework — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1087 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Ordoliberalism departed from classical liberalism by grounding markets in a constitutional framework #qualifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1087
• Ordoliberalism makes state policy the guardian of fragile market mechanisms #expands (0.85) — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics, 1258
• Ordoliberalism defined itself as a third way between capitalism and socialism #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 546
• Ordoliberalism’s Ordnungstheorie anticipated modern neo-institutionalist economics #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 559