This book is intended for policy-makers, academics and students of development studies, area studies, political economy, geography and political science. Three of the best global performers in terms of economic growth are authoritarian states led by communist parties. The ‘socialist market economy’ model employed in China, Vietnam and Laos performs better than the economic systems in countries at a similar level of income per capita on a wide range of development indicators, yet market reforms and governance failures have led to highly unequal societies and significant environmental problems. This book presents the first comparative study of development in these three countries. Written by country experts and scholars of development studies, it explores the ongoing quest for market versus state within their model, and the coherence of their development. Chapter 5 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This volume is a collection of ten essays in which the authors assess the contribution of the German Ordo-liberals fifty years after the founders of the liberal movement in Germany stated their aims and objectives. The Ordo-liberals were a group of liberal economic and legal thinkers in the Federal Republic of Germany who came into prominence as a result of their influence on, and participation in, post-war economic policy in the Federal Republic when Ludwig Erhard was Minister for Economic Affairs and, later, Chancellor. They became known as Ordo-liberals because of their commitment to designing the appropriate economic and legal system. The essays in this volume consider not only the philosophy of the Ordo-liberals and their concept of the social market economy, but are also concerned with the contribution of the Ordo-liberals to more practical problems. The role of the public sector, the control of mergers and monopolies and the problem of sound money are among the topics considered, as well as the views of the Ordo-liberals on the international order. Many of the authors of these essays are well known internationally and they represent a wide range of contemporary liberal thought. The book will be warmly welcomed by students and scholars interested in economic philosophy and the place of liberalism in contemporary thought. The essays in this volume have been translated from the German in order to bring to the notice of a wider public the views of a group of German liberal economic and legal thinkers. This group of economists and lawyers came into prominence as a result of their influence on, and participation in, post-war economic policy in the Federal Republic of Germany when Ludwig Erhard was Minister for Economic Affairs and, later, Chancellor. Seventeen essays have been selected to express the thoughts of the group who, because of their commitment ot designing the appropriate economic and legal order system, became known as Ordo-liberals. The essays deal with a wide range of contemporary problems, such as the control of monopolies, the problem of the welfare state and the need for self-help, the role of the trade unions in industrial societies, as well as with the more philosophical question of whether capitalist and communist systems are moving closer together in their approach to economic problems to such an extent that they will eventually converge. This book will be of interest to all those who are concerned with contemporary problems both at practical and philosophical levels.

“A Humane Economy is like a seminar on integral freedom conducted by a professor of uncommon brilliance.” —Wall Street Journal “If any person in our contemporary world is entitled to a hearing it is Wilhelm Röpke.” —New York Times A Humane Economy offers one of the most accessible and compelling explanations of how economies operate ever written. The masterwork of the great twentieth-century economist Wilhelm Röpke, this book presents a sweeping, brilliant exposition of market mechanics and moral philosophy. Röpke cuts through the jargon and statistics that make most economic writing so obscure and confusing. Over and over, the great Swiss economist stresses one simple point: you cannot separate economic principles from human behavior. Röpke’s observations are as relevant today as when they were first set forth a half century ago. He clearly demonstrates how those societies that have embraced free-market principles have achieved phenomenal economic success—and how those that cling to theories of economic centralization endure stagnation and persistent poverty. A Humane Economy shows how economic processes and government policies influence our behavior and choices—to the betterment or detriment of life in those vital and highly fragile human structures we call communities. “It is the precept of ethical and humane behavior, no less than of political wisdom,” Röpke reminds us, “to adapt economic policy to man, not man to economic policy.”

Investigating the extent to which the European Union can be defined as a "highly competitive social market economy", this edited collection illustrates and tests the constitutional reverberations of Art. 3(3) of the Treaty on the European Union, and discusses its actual and potential transformative effect. In the aftermath of Brexit, and in the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the book is particularly timely and topical, offering new and deeper insights on the complex and constantly evolving social dimension of the EU, ultimately reflecting on how the objective of (re)constituting the EU as a "highly competitive social market economy" might best be achieved.

The social market economy has served as a fundamental pillar of post-war Germany. Today, it is associated with the European welfare state. Initially, it meant the opposite. Rebuilding Germany examines the 1948 West German economic reforms that dismantled the Nazi command economy and ushered in the fabled 'European Miracle' of the 1950s. Van Hook evaluates the US role in German reconstruction, the problematic relationship of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and his economics minister, Ludwig Erhard, the West German 'economic miracle', and the extent to which the social market economy represented a departure from the German past. In a nuanced and fresh account, Van Hook evaluates the American role in West German recovery and the debates about economic policy within West Germany, to show that Germans themselves had surprising room to shape their economic and industrial system.

This book goes behind the success story of the Federal Republic of Germany since the Second World War to examine the principles underpinning the so-called "economic miracle." A.J. Nicholls examines the intellectual origins and history of the concept of the Social Market Economy, and its implementation in the difficult years of post-war devastation and recovery in West Germany. He traces the struggle of liberal economists to assert their ideas in the unfavorable circumstances from 1933 to 1948, when they triumphed with Erhard's implementation of a policy of liberalization following currency reform. The book analyzes the extent to which West Germany's economic success was due to Erhard's policies, and assesses his attempts to attain the goals of the social market up to 1963, when he became Federal Chancellor. Nicholls's study makes an important contribution to our understanding of the historical dynamics of the German economy and the political culture of the Federal Republic.

Applying the new economics of organisation and relational theories of the firm to the problem of understanding cross-national variation in the political economy, this volume elaborates a new understanding of the institutional differences that characterise the 'varieties of capitalism' worldwide.