Social market economy

This article is about the economic model combining free-market capitalism with social policies. For the economic system in the People's Republic of China, see Socialist market economy.

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The social market economy (SOME; German: soziale Marktwirtschaft), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism,[1] is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system alongside social policies and enough regulation to establish both fair competition within the market and generally a welfare state.[2][3] It is sometimes classified as a regulated market economy.[4] The social market economy was originally promoted and implemented in West Germany by the Christian Democratic Union under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1949[5] and today it is used by ordoliberals, social liberals and modern (non-Marxist) social democrats alike. Its origins can be traced to the interwar Freiburg school of economic thought.[6]

The social market economy was designed to be a middle way between laissez-faire forms of capitalism and socialist economics.[7] It was strongly inspired by ordoliberalism,[8] which was influenced by the political ideology of Christian democracy.[7][9] Social market refrains from attempts to plan and guide production, the workforce, or sales but support planned efforts to influence the economy through the organic means of a comprehensive economic policy coupled with flexible adaptation to market studies. Combining monetary, credit, trade, tax, customs, investment, and social policies, as well as other measures, this type of economic policy aims to create an economy that serves the welfare and needs of the entire population, thereby fulfilling its ultimate goal.[10]

The social segment is often wrongly confused with socialism by right-wing critics.[11][12] Although aspects were inspired by democratic socialism and social democracy, the social market approach rejects the communist ideas of replacing private property and markets with social ownership and economic planning. The social element of the model instead refers to support for the provision of equal opportunity and protection of those unable to enter the market labor force because of old-age, disability, or unemployment.[13]

Some authors use the term social capitalism with roughly the same meaning as social market economy.[14][15][16] It is also called "Rhine capitalism",[17] typically when contrasting it with the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism.[18][19][20] Rather than see it as an antithesis, some authors describe Rhine capitalism as a successful synthesis of the Anglo-American model with social democracy.[21] The German model is contrasted and compared with other economic models, some of which are also described as middle ways or regional forms of capitalism, including Tony Blair's Third Way, French dirigisme, the Dutch polder model, the Nordic model, Japanese corporate East Asian model of capitalism, and the contemporary Chinese socialist market economy.[22] A 2012 comparative politics textbook distinguishes between the "conservative–corporatist welfare state" (arising from the German social market economy) and the "labor-led social democratic welfare state".[23] The concept of the model has since been expanded upon into the idea of an eco-social market economy as not only taking into account the social responsibility of humanity but also the sustainable use and protection of natural resources. Countries with a social market economy include Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Poland, and Japan.

  1. ^ Tristan Claridge (9 May 2017). "Social Capitalism and Social Capital – Definitions and Discussion". Socialcapitalresearch.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Social Market". Economics Dictionary. The Economist.
  3. ^ Ralph M. Wrobel, Social Market Economy as Alternative Approach of Capitalism after the Financial and Economic Crisis (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2020, retrieved 21 October 2015
  4. ^ Koppstein & Lichbach 2005, p. 156
  5. ^ Spicka 2007, p. 2.
  6. ^ Steffen Mau (2003). Moral Economy of Welfare States. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-134-37055-9.
  7. ^ a b Abelshauser 2004, p. 89-93.
  8. ^ Nils Goldschmidt, Hermann Rauchenschwandtner (2007). The Philosophy of Social Market Economy: Michel Foucault's Analysis of Ordoliberalism. Universität Freiburg, Freiburger Diskussionspapiere zur Ordnungsökonomik. hdl:10419/4374.
  9. ^ Lamberts, Emiel (1997). Christian Democracy in the European Union, 1945/1995: Proceedings of the Leuven Colloquium, 15–18 November 1995. Leuven University Press. p. 478. ISBN 9789061868088.
  10. ^ "GHDI - Document - Page". German History. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reynolds 2002 p. 31 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schie & Voermann 2006, p. 103 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Marktanner, Marcus (June 2010). "Addressing the Marketing Problem of the Social Market Economy" (PDF). Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  14. ^ Matthias Zimmer (1997). Germany--phoenix in Trouble?. University of Alberta. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-88864-305-6.
  15. ^ Lowell Turner (1998). Fighting for Partnership: Labor and Politics in Unified Germany. Cornell University Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-8014-8483-9.
  16. ^ Steven Hill (2010). Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age. University of California Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-0-520-24857-1.
  17. ^ Naoshi Yamawaki (2002). "Walter Eucken and Wilhelm Röpke. A reappraisal of their economic thought and the policy of ordoliberalism". In Yuichi Shionoya (ed.). German Historical School. Routledge. p. 199. ISBN 1-134-62044-6.
  18. ^ Abigail B. Bakan; Eleanor MacDonald (2002). Critical Political Studies: Debates and Dialogues from the Left. McGill-Queen's Press. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-0-7735-6956-0.
  19. ^ Sally Wheeler (2002). Corporations and the Third Way. Hart Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-901362-63-3.
  20. ^ Tadeusz Kowalik (2003). "Systemic Variety under the Conditions of Globalization and Integration". In Grzegorz W. Kołodko (ed.). Emerging Market Economies: Globalization and Development. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 214–215. ISBN 978-0-7546-3706-6.
  21. ^ Susan Albers Mohrman; Philip H. Mirvis; Christopher G. Worley; Abraham B. Shani (2013). Building Networks for Sustainable Effectiveness. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-78190-887-7.
  22. ^ Melanie Walker; Jon Nixon (2004). Reclaiming Universities from a Runaway World. McGraw-Hill International. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-335-21291-0.
  23. ^ Lowell Barrington (2012). Comparative Politics: Structures and Choices (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 43, 71. ISBN 978-1-133-71036-3.