Walter Eucken, entre économie et politique

Walter Eucken is the key figure of the German Ordoliberal thinking. He published a seminal paper in the German Journal Ordojahrbuch entitled "The political problem of Ordo" (1948). Questioning both the Marxist and the historicist analyses of capitalism, he built new foundations for political economy.

The concept of Ordo is a convenient epistemological tool to analyse different types of interactions between politics and economics. It also aims at developing an ideal organisation of society as a whole.

In Eucken's ideal political order, the main role of the State is to create and then to maintain the institutional framework for a well-functioning competitive market which is supposed to be the best way to guarantee the greatest individual freedom.

This book provides a long introduction to Eucken’s paper of 1948, translated into French by the authors. At the crossroads of political economy, philosophy, law and history, the book outlines the genesis and development of Walter Eucken’s political and economic thinking.

This book is for political economists interested in reflecting upon new links between Politics and Economy and also for those who are interested in knowing more about the very roots of the German Social Market Economy.