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1.Doctrinaldiscussions
Overall,thedoctrineofthe“thirdway”wasquitepopularinEuropeinthe
late1930s,bothinCatholicandProtestantcircles.Itsinfluencecouldalso
beseenamongGermanandScandinavian(especiallySwedish)socialdemo-
crats.Additionally,intheaftermathoftheGreatDepressionandthesud-
dencollapseofprivateeconomybasedonthedoctrineoflaissez-faire,the
ideaofanintermediaryeconomicmodelbecamequitepopularalsoamong
Americanliberals.AmongthesupportersofsuchanapproachwasAdolf
A.Berle.Infact,Berleusedtheconceptofan“intermediatesystem”inhis
doctrineof“people’scapitalism”,inwhichheenvisionedreducingmaterial-
isticinequalitiesandsocialtensionsthatcharacterisedtheAmericansociety.
Berlewishedtoachievehisgoalwithouthavingtomakeanychangestothe
existingeconomicsystembasedonprivateproperty.
AstheSecondWorldWarerupted,itbroughtaboutmanyfar-reaching
consequencesbothpoliticallyandeconomically,anditshouldcomeasno
surprisethatafterthewarmanydevelopedcountries(especiallyinEurope
wherethewar-causeddamage,materialaswellasmoral,wasthegreatest)
optedforamixed-economymodel,withconsiderablestateinvolvement
withintheframeworkofamarketeconomy.Conversely,insocialistcoun-
tries,wherethesystemofacentrally-plannedeconomywasbeingintro-
duced,thestatebecamethesoleownerandadministratoroftheeconomic
system.Thesechangesmarkedthebeginningofalong-lastingdividebe-
tweenfreemarketeconomiesandcollectiveeconomies.
Ordoliberalism,whichisapracticalexampleoftheimplementationofthe
ideaofthe“thirdway”,isdeeplyrootedinChristianethics.Itrefersespecial-
lytotheconceptofacompleteco-dependencebetweenthesocialandeco-
nomicsystem.Proponentsofthisideastronglybelieveintheindividual’s
freedomandassumethatitistheindividualwhotakesresponsibilityfor
theentiresocietyandnottheotherwayround.Hence,firstandforemost,
ordoliberalsputhumanbeingsandtheirmoralityatthecoreoftheeconomic
system.Thatisalsowhytheywerehighlyconcernedaboutincreasingly
excessiveconsumerism.Representativesofthisthinking,suchasWalter
EuckenandWilhelmRöpke,subsequentlymadeclaimsthatanunlimited
developmentofthecultofproductiveness,materialisticexpansionofpro-
duction,andanexcessivelyhighstandardoflivingleadtomoralbreakdown,
especiallywhenethicsaredisregarded.Tocuretheillnessofmodernso-
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