The Social Market Economy as a Feasible Policy Option for Latin Countries

Abstract

The growth model of the German economy draws its guiding theoretical principles from the soziale Marktwirtschaft (SMW) and the seminal work of the German economist Alfred Muller-Armack. The first part of this paper discusses the precise characteristics of German neoliberal theories and the SMW in particular. The second part explores the policy history of Argentina and Italy and the exportability of the SMW to such Latin countries. The relation between countries’ economic structure and the reforms needed to achieve such an economic order is analysed.