The Social Market Economy and the Moral Problem in Modern Capitalism

Abstract

The paradigm of a social market economy postulates that the evolution of a functional market economy, as the guarantor of freedom, human dignity and justice, cannot be left to chance but must be consciously guided along the “principles” of Eucken′s economic constitution. The moral problem of modern capitalism can be spelled out in terms of imbalances between economic and ethical norms in the public and private sectors, the influence of special interest groups and politicians to pursue measures detrimental to a competitive market economy, ideological prejudices about common welfare and a socially‐caring state, insufficient adherence to the fact that it is in everyone′s interest to be concerned about everyone′s welfare, and, to summarise, imbalances in the principle that “government should govern as little as possible but not do as little as possible” or between “as much centralisation as necessary with as much decentralisation as possible” in the economy.

Citation

Karsten, S.G. (1990), "The Social Market Economy and the Moral Problem in Modern Capitalism", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 27-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068299010004116