CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Rupcic, Vjenceslav |
|---|---|
| Title | Historic origins of austerity and the ordoliberal school of thought |
| Summary | In the course of the European sovereign debt crisis, some blamed Germany for forcing austerity measures upon the European debtor countries, with ordoliberalism seen as the theory behind Germany´s policy making. However, despite the fact that Germany´s actions in the GFC to some extent show similarities to ordoliberal principles, it would be overly simplifying to take that as evidence of German policy making being inspired by ordoliberalism. Using process tracing, in the first part of the study I analyze the development and the main principles of ordoliberalism as well as their alleged connection to austerity. The second part discusses the historic record of ordoliberalism in Germany´s policy making, whereas the third part examines Germany´s policies in the Eurozone crisis from an ordoliberal perspective and provides some alternative explanations for Germany´s actions. The key findings of this study indicate that German policy making is not dominated by ordoliberalism, which although strongly present in German academia and public discourse plays only a limited role in Germany´s approach to the sovereign debt crisis. In this respect the study contradicts the widespread notion of ordoliberalism being the culprit for Germany´s pro-austerity policy, and offers a more elaborate explanation of the role that this school of thought has in Germany. |
| Supervisor | Fölsz, Attila |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/rupcic_vjenceslav.pdf |
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