Neoliberalismus und Freiheit – Zum sozialethischen Anliegen der Ordo-Schule / Neoliberalism and Liberty - The social ethical impetus of the German Ordo School

The economic concept of Neoliberalism is commonly reproached as maximizing liberty of individual decisionmaking as an end in itself. This assertion, however, is not correct. It is shown that in fact the writings of Eucken and of most other theorists of the neoliberal Freiburg school of economics are ultimately based on an ethical principle of universalization which is not individualistically justified itself. Neoliberalism, hence, may be considered as a variant of Christian social ethics rather than of (individualistic) liberalism.