Backdating German neoliberalism: Ordoliberalism, the German model and economic experiments in eastern Germany after 1989

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Gook
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
German Economy ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Economic Experiments ◽  
Eastern Germany ◽  
German Model ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

Since the 2007–8 financial crisis and subsequent difficulties in the eurozone, Germany’s recent economic history has been much studied. However, less attention has been paid to neoliberalisation in eastern Germany in the early 1990s, when the region became a laboratory for political economic experiments. The results were later spread across the (western) German economy, then into the European Union’s (EU’s) ideological core. As such, a focus on the western ‘German model’ and the EU can miss the way neoliberalism crept into German social and economic life through German re-unification in the 1990s. Re-unification provided conditions in the former East for a ‘natural experiment’ with different modes of economic and social governance – a space of exception from the West German model, whose corporatist features were already fraying in the 1980s. In short, re-unification was a turning point in a drift towards neoliberalism, intensifying moves already quietly under way in West Germany in the 1980s. The contentious nature of this shift has largely been forgotten and sidelined.

Shocks to the System: the German Political Economy Under Stress

1997 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 57-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Carlin ◽  
David Soskice
Keyword(s):  
Export Performance ◽  
German Economy ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Incremental Innovation ◽  
The West ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Labour Costs ◽  
German Model ◽  
Innovation Strategies

The German economy is recovering hesitantly from the sharp post-unification boom and recession. Two features of recent West German performance are novel: there has been an unprecedented loss of jobs in industry, and manufacturing profitability has been pushed to its lowest level ever and is now low relative to other OECD economies. Serious problems with labour costs and innovation would be expected to show up in a weakening in the trend of export performance. That this has not yet happened is the consequence of the existence of an apparently robust innovation system which enables companies to pursue high quality incremental innovation strategies. However, the experiment of transferring the West German model to the East has proved extremely costly and has not so far established the basis for self-sustaining growth. Problems in profitability, investment and employment in West Germany reflect the failure of the bargaining system—unions, employers, Bundesbank and public sector—to negotiate the sharing of the burden of unification.

From Economic Miracle to Standort Deutschland: Exchanging Economic Metaphors in the Federal Republic of Germany

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-65
Author(s):  
Ben Lieberman
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
German Economy ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Economic Miracle ◽  
Economic Achievement ◽  
The World ◽  
German Model ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1950S

The history of the Federal Republic of Germany is closely connected with economic achievement. Enjoying a striking economic recovery in the 1950s, the FRG became the home of the “economic miracle.” Maturing into one of the most powerful economies in the world, it became known as the “German model” by the 1970s. Now, however, the chief metaphor for the German economy is “Standort Deutschland,” and therein lies the tale of the new German problem.

Food vs. fuel — A turning point for bioethanol?

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Harlander
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Additional Demand ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
Emotional Resistance ◽  
The Eu

Bioethanol is made from sugar- or starch-containing plants that are also used in food production. In the public perception this has led to an emotional resistance against biofuels, which in real terms is not substantiated. Generally biofuels are a political product. Triggered by the oil crisis in the 1970s, fuel ethanol programmes were first launched in Brazil and in the United States. Concerns regarding energy security and sustainability, together with the option of new markets for surplus agricultural production, have led to similar measures in the EU and other countries in recent years. Accordingly, the industry invested heavily in new bioethanol plants — especially in the US — and created an additional demand for maize and wheat, with some record-breaking prices noted in late 2007. A look back into statistics shows a drastic decline in real prices for decades, which have now simply returned to the level of 30 years ago. The grain used for bioethanol is currently only 1.6% in the EU and is therefore unlikely to be the real driver of price development. The European Commission concludes in its review of agricultural markets that Europe can do both: nutrition and biofuels.

Capitalist Futures and Socialist Legacies: Urban Development in East Germany Since 1990

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Häußermann
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Socialist Country ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Political ◽  
Federal States ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Western Model ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
German Model ◽  
Political Economic

Since unification, the political, economic, and institutional structuresin the new federal states have been patterned in accordance with theWest German model. This is due in part to the extension of theWestern legal framework to the eastern Länder. The fact that thepolitical and economic actors of the once-socialist country are nowsubject to the institutional conditions of the West encourages convergencetowards the western model. But questions have been raised asto whether the cities in the new federal states are also adaptingrapidly to the western model of urban development. Their layoutand architecture resulted, after all, from the investment decisionsmade by several generations and cannot be shifted or transformed asrapidly as legal or institutional frameworks.

II. Worksh ops

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-96
Author(s):  
Charles C. West ◽  
J. Mutero Chirenje ◽  
J.D. Gort ◽  
Walter Fernandes ◽  
Michael Bourdeaux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Seventh Day Adventist ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Diverse Nations

AbstractThe workshop brought together some twenty persons from varied and diverse nations and political-economic circumstances - Ghana, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America, West Germany and Zimbabwe. The workshop also reflected a number of Christian denominations - Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, Roman Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist. The gathering then was truly pluralistic and ecumenical. Such composition made for a rich encounter of varied and diverse understandings and approaches.

Understanding the Crisis Symptoms of Representative Democracy: The New European Economic Governance and France's ‘Political Crisis’

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-131
Author(s):  
Julia Lux
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
New Economic Governance ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

This article will investigate the ‘political crisis’ in France (Amable, 2017) to highlight two aspects often set aside in public and academic discussions: 1) the technocratic, neoliberal character of the European Union (EU) that limits democratic debate about political economic issues and 2) the socio-economic context the parties operate in. Using this perspective, I add to the debate on the inherent theoretical/conceptual tension between representative democracy and populism (Taggart, 2002) by showing how the ‘new economic governance’ increases the democratic problems of the EU by limiting the discursive space. Representative liberal democracy has particularly marginalised anti-capitalism at EU and national level. My analysis shows that the EU's discursive strategies are aligned to those of governing parties and the employers’ association. Left-wing actors and the Front National (FN) oppose the EU's discourse not necessarily for reasons of sovereignty but for political reasons concerning the politico-economic trajectory of France.

scholarly journals Abstieg West durch Aufbau Ost?

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (135) ◽  
pp. 321-329
Author(s):  
Ulrich Busch
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
West Germany ◽  
German Unification ◽  
The West ◽  
Economic Stagnation ◽  
The Eu

14 years after the German unification East Germany is one of the largest European problem areas. Loss of population, economic stagnation and the dependence on transfers from the West determine the situation. With the expansion of the EU, East Germany can become the German mezzogiorno. In this situation a group of experts demands radical measures form the federal government. But these measures will worsen the living conditions in East Germany, which are already very different to those in West Germany.

scholarly journals ON VARIETY OF INTEGRATION PROCESSES IN EUROPE

2013 ◽  
pp. 98-105
Author(s):  
L. S. Voronkov
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Specific Interests ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Globalized World ◽  
European Situation ◽  
Former Ussr ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Post Soviet Space

On the basis of analysis of integration processes between Nordic, Benelux countries and post-soviet states in Europe the author expresses hesitations in accepting the integration experiences gained by the EU as the criterion of efficiency and the pattern for the post-Soviet space. He does not consider that an involvement of all countries with market economy into processes of regional integration, if they do not try to achieve certain political aims through integration, is the universal regularity in the globalized world. In these cases neither free trade zones nor custom unions can be considered as integration stages, but they continue to be the tools for further development of trade. The author proposes to assess the EU evolution with regard to the legal norms of international organizations, where state sovereignty of members is strengthened, not given up to supernational bodies. In case the idea of reestablishment of an unified state on the remains of the former USSR, linked to the necessity to hand over the recently acquired sovereignty to it, is laid down to the ground for practical measures of integration, this kind of integration will hardly be attractive to the potential post-Soviet participants. This perspective is hardly desired for Russia either. The integration path of the EU reflects the peculiarities of the European situation and specific interests of its member states. Many details of the EU activity are not applicable to other integration groupings in Europe and membership criteria in every of them is not universal. Any efforts to construct integration processes in the post-Soviet space in accordance to the EU model without proper consideration to integration experiences of other countries and to political, economic, social, cultural, demographic, military peculiarities of the countries concerned seem to be not acceptable and founded.

scholarly journals The potentials for Political and Economic Development of Kosovo

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 319
Author(s):  
MSc. Ngadhnjim Brovina ◽  
MSc. Adnan Hoxha
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Status ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

It is rather clear that it is mandatory to understand the potentials of growth for any economy to grow. With globalization taking place, countries in general, have intensified their political, economic and social integration. Kosovo, as the youngest state in Europe, is about to transform from a devastated economy into a developing one. It has not yet been able to tap on its natural resources and neither of its potentials for a faster economic growth. Its backbone economic sectors such as agriculture, textile, mining and metal sectors are still on their initial stages of revitalization, while the privatization of the public companies has not met its expectations.Whereas, Kosovo is doing a better job on, as its international presence and subjectivity of its political status (Independence) is strengthened. More and more countries are recognizing it as a sovereign country, while the recent initiation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, Kosovo is undergoing through its structural reforms and alliance with the EU standards and regulations.The future of Kosovo, like of any country, will depend on the way that its human, financial and natural resources are utilized. On this regard, this paper is an attempt to explore the potentials of the economic growth on different political contexts that Kosovo has and is expected to undergo.

scholarly journals Medical Science Meets ‘Development Aid’ Transfer and Adaptation of West German Microbiology to Togo, 1960–1980

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Carola Rensch ◽  
Walter Bruchhausen
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
International Health ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Joint Work ◽  
German Development ◽  
German Model ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Work Abroad

After losing the importance it had held around 1900 both as a colonial power and in the field of tropical medicine, Germany searched for a new place in international health care during decolonisation. Under the aegis of early government ‘development aid’, which started in 1956, medical academics from West German universities became involved in several Asian, African and South American countries. The example selected for closer study is the support for the national hygiene institute in Togo, a former German ‘model colony’ and now a stout ally of the West. Positioned between public health and scientific research, between ‘development aid’ and academia and between West German and West African interests, the project required multiple arrangements that are analysed for their impact on the co-operation between the two countries. In a country like Togo, where higher education had been neglected under colonial rule, having qualified national staff became the decisive factor for the project. While routine services soon worked well, research required more sustained ‘capacity building’ and did not lead to joint work on equal terms. In West Germany, the arrangement with the universities was a mutual benefit deal for government officials and medical academics. West German ‘development aid’ did not have to create permanent jobs at home for the consulting experts it needed; it improved its chances to find sufficiently qualified German staff to work abroad and it profited from the academic renown of its consultants. The medical scientists secured jobs and research opportunities for their postgraduates, received grants for foreign doctoral students, gained additional expertise and enjoyed international prestige. Independence from foreign politics was not an issue for most West German medical academics in the 1960s.

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