Economic Crisis Policy

Abstract

Abstract The basic principles of Ordoliberalism are rooted in economic crises, particularly the mass unemployment of the Great Depression with its devastating economic and political consequences. Governmental interventions should focus on keeping the competitive order functioning, which may imply the breaking-up of economic power groups if needed, rather than the steering of the economic process. In contrast to Keynesian macroeconomics, the government is not charged with the responsibility of achieving a high level of employment. Only in exceptional cases, such as secondary (Röpke) or pathological depressions with their mass unemployment, are full employment policies considered necessary but still viewed ambivalently due to their inherent tendency to central planning. Ordoliberals early on favoured rule-based policies as they were characterising the German position in the controversial discussions of the Maastricht Treaty, the Stability and Growth Pact and during the Euro crisis.