Ordoliberals advised the Nazi regime while also networking postwar plans

Evidence

Beside the academic influence on the course of German economic history in and immediately after World War II, ordoliberal economists were continuously engaged in giving policy advice to the Nazi regime but were also, especially in the 1940s, in contact with the “conservative opposition” to that regime. During the 1940s the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Erwin von Beckerath” served as a meeting point for ordoliberals, their main objective being to discuss and develop the economic order for postwar Germany. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 623

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the uncomfortable dual role of German economists under Nazism — day-job service to the regime while quietly drafting the postwar order — complicates clean narratives of a ‘resistance’ economics.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: what exactly did ordoliberal policy advice to the Nazi regime consist of, and how did these economists later frame that service?
• XREF: connects to: Postwar Germany adopted ordoliberalism because the Freiburg school survived the Nazis intact — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 367; Market-liberal ordoliberal thought flourished even inside the Third Reich. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 323; Freiburg’s ordoliberal circle remained active research centers under Nazism — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 622 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Non-emigrant ordoliberals designed their economic concepts for implementation under Nazi government #corroborates (0.92) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 539
• Nazi economic policy vacillation made ordoliberals hope their competition model would gain favor #expands (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 #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 585
• Ordoliberals dominated Germany’s advisory council and funded publicity campaigns #expands (0.78)
• Ordoliberalism’s Christian moral turn was a response to its leaders’ Nazi entanglement #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 537