Half a century of Social Economy in the Market

Abstract

In the 1930’s in the United States as a response to the stock market crash in 1929, and in Europe after the Second World War, an economic system called “Social Market Economy” was launched; it later took firmer root in Europe than in the U.S. Strangely enough, this system’s design originated in Social Christian thought, in papal encyclicals (the Church’s social doctrine) and in such Catholic authors as Oswald von Nell– Breuning S.I., Gustav Gundlach S.I. and the Dominican Arthur Fridolin Utz as well as in the thought of some Christian Protestants. It adopted the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity from Christianity: the former allows the state to take on only certain economic competences that individuals or families of businesses alone cannot; the second obliges the State to protect its citizens. This is thus as superior to savage capitalism as it is to the overwhelming Socialist state. It provides freedom and defends solidarity. The Social Market Economy, hand in hand with the State of Well–Being has bestowed on humanity one of the sweetest moments in its economic history. It will however be short–lived in the context of globalization if a globally democratic political structure is not achieved.