F.A. Hayek and Ordoliberalism: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This paper is a comparative study of two lines of thought in political economy which can be related to the German city of Freiburg. The Freiburg School which is also known as Ordoliberalism, constituted one of the foundations of the economic order in postwar West Germany. On the other hand, Nobel Prize holder Austrian economist Friedrich August von Hayek, who spent a considerable part of his life in Freiburg, in University of Freiburg, strongly inspired the neo-liberal policies in the western world in the 80's. In this work, we analyse the main differences and similarities of these two liberal lines of economic thought.