The Road to 2005: The Policy of Economic Modernisation

Abstract

The article employs an historical institutionalist, path dependent approach to analyse the modernisation of German economic policy. It investigates several critical junctures dating to the origins of the Federal Republic and argues that German policy makers' difficulty in undertaking contemporary reform is rooted in deeply embedded organised capitalist institutions and ideas. While economic modernisation in Germany was and is still clearly necessary, Anglo-American neoliberal models have little chance of either economic or political success. Rather, it suggests that if successful economic modernisation is to take place in Germany it will likely take an organisational form that is congruent with familiar German institutions. However, this organised capitalist model would also need to be accompanied by a set of ideas congruent with early 21^st century economic circumstances.

Notes

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