Rhenish capitalism

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The term Rhenish capitalism was coined by the French economist and insurance manager Michel Albert in 1991 in his book Capitalism contra Capitalism . He contrasted this as a model of capitalism with the “neo-American” model of the capitalist market economy introduced by the governments of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher . While this is more shaped by the ideas of Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman , Rhenish capitalism , especially in its German version of the social market economy , has welfare state institutions. Albert describes the Rhenish model as fairer, more efficient and less violent. Nevertheless, the stronger economic dynamism, the high earning potential for individuals as well as complex psychological phenomena and media coverage made the American model appear the more attractive and dynamic.

definition

For Rhineland capitalism is, according to Albert that more banks rather than the stock market certain financial affairs, the close economic ties between banks and companies, a more balanced balance of power between shareholders and management, social partnership between unions and employers , through the dual vocational training , better educated and more loyal workforces, stronger state regulation of economic activity ( market regulation ) and finally, above all, values ​​shared by the population with regard to a more egalitarian society and the perception of common interests.

According to Albert, the markets in both models do not differ (with the exception of religions) in terms of goods that are assessed as not tradable. However, there are considerable differences in the assessment of tradable and mixed (conditionally tradable) goods.

  1. In the Rhenish model, religions are not tradable institutions, while in the USA they are increasingly being run like mixed institutions.
  2. In the neo-American model, companies are a commodity like any other, while in the Rhenish model they are viewed as semi-common property.
  3. Wages , which in the neo-American model strongly depend on market fluctuations, in the Rhenish model relate to the productivity of the recipient.
  4. Apartments are neo-American commercial goods, mixed with the Rhine, which are subsidized by social housing.
  5. Public transport is indeed regulated in the USA, but is more a free than a mixed good.
  6. Media are traditionally commercial in the USA. While in the Rhenish model there is a movement towards a free good, in the USA an exactly opposite tendency can be observed.
  7. In the neo-American model, education is clearly subject to the laws of the market.
  8. Health and legal services : Here, in the Rhenish model, the liberal professions , especially doctors and lawyers, would be designed to protect their members from need so that they could freely and unselfishly devote themselves to the service of the community. The service is more an honor , the fee therefore has the character of an honorary salary and not a remuneration .

Two Anglo-Saxon authors, Peter A. Hall and David Soskice , pursued the thesis of different capitalisms in an extensive empirical and internationally comparative study and condensed it into a typology of (a) liberal and (b) coordinated market economies with different institutions and governance systems. The German version of Rhenish capitalism, the social market economy , is paradigmatic for coordinated market economies , whereby reference is made more to the welfare state practice than to the original concept of Erhard and Müller-Armack .

The term Rhenish capitalism is understood as an allusion to the then seat of government Bonn on the Rhine and above all connected with the fact that in Bad Godesberg on the Rhine, with the Godesberg program, the German social democracy accepted this form of capitalism, on the other hand it is associated with the principles of the welfare state , which distinguishes the entirety of the states bordering the Rhine, "from the Netherlands to Switzerland", as well as Scandinavia and Japan.

As a political catchphrase , the use of the term Rhenish capitalism has sometimes broken away from Albert's definition and is contrasted with the social market economy in the sense of Ludwig Erhard as "cuddly capitalism " or " clunky economy ". For Herbert Giersch , Rhenish capitalism is symbolized more by personalities such as Konrad Adenauer or Hermann Josef Abs than by Ludwig Erhard.

Receptions

According to Michael Spangenberger , Michel Albert succeeded "in internationalizing the content of the social market economy in the term 'Rhenish capitalism' and thus laying the basis for the comparison between a neoliberal, Anglo-American understanding of capitalism and capitalism with Christian values". The Bielefeld economic historian Werner Abelshauser states: “The social market economy - not the concept , but the practice - became the trademark of the German version of Rhenish capitalism in the period after 1945”. The Italian legal scholar and former European Minister Rocco Buttiglione understands this to mean “the social market economy - not as a general theoretical structure, but in the concrete form that it has adopted in Germany over the years. For us, the 'Rhenish Model' is therefore not a theoretical, but a practical, actually realized model which, within certain limits, can perhaps have a pioneering role for the entire European Union ”. Walther Müller-Jentsch states that the discussion about the most suitable economic order has narrowed to the alternatives of Rhenish capitalism versus the neo-American model.

In 2006, the economist Gerhard Willke criticized in his work “Capitalism” the tendency to play off good Rhenish capitalism against bad Anglo-American capitalism as one-sided. The employment balance of "some 'Rhenish' systems" has a negative impact. Albert's explanation for the attractiveness of the Anglo-American model is also unsatisfactory, a better explanation is the significantly higher return on investment "due to specific conditions (e.g. massive tax breaks for capital income since the 1980s, lower burden with ancillary wage costs, etc.)" .

The economic historian Werner Abelshauser assumes that Rhenish capitalism is the opposite of Anglo-American capitalism (in Europe on the British Isles, Ireland and Iceland) or Mediterranean capitalism (in Spain, Portugal, in the southern parts of France and in southern Italy / " Mezzogiorno "). The transition countries of Eastern Europe (countries of the Baltic States and the former Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy) would move in the direction of Rhenish capitalism.

In June 2010, Hans-Peter Klös from the Institute for the German Economy compared the effects of the financial crisis on the labor markets from 2007 : “5.4 million people [...] became unemployed in the USA , on balance and seasonally adjusted. In Germany there were 54,000. That is already in the range of the normal monthly fluctuation range. The world is talking about a new German employment miracle. ”This is due to the fact that German companies“ can compensate for the unprecedented shrinkage in economic output by 4.9 percent [...] mainly internally ”, that is by“ reducing working time accounts and adjusting operational ones Working hours, of course also the flexible use of the instrument of 'economic short-time work' provided by the state as a stress-relieving beta blocker ”. "The external flexibility, ie the adjustment through layoffs and vice versa through quick re-employment in the upswing - that is much less pronounced in Germany than in the USA, for example." “'To this crisis', so is the finding, also the Rhenish capitalism reacted appropriately, flexibly, quickly and adequately in its own way'”. Rolf Kroker confirms: "The German response to the crisis definitely has its radiance".

Quote

The Bielefeld economic historian Werner Abelshauser said in an interview with Tagesschau on October 8, 2008:

“ There was a cultural struggle between standard capitalism, which victoriously dominated the globe, and“ Rhenish capitalism ”, the organizational model practiced from Scandinavia to northern Italy, from the Seine to the Oder. The disaster that is now looming is one reason why the European model is becoming stronger again in this culture war. "

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ To illustrate what is meant by this, a later statement by Albert may serve, in which he, called upon to reflect on current developments, states that the conditions in capitalism on the Rhine are similar to those in America and, among other things, cites: “especially for the new generation of young executives is all the more attractive because it brings with it the distribution of stock options ”(Albert, Michel: The future of social models of the European continent. In: Wolfgang Streeck : International economy, national democracy: Challenges for the theory of democracy. (= Writings of the Max Planck Institute for Social Research Cologne. Special volume). Campus, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-593-36113-2 , pp. 195–209, here p. 205).
  2. ↑ Peter A. Hall, David W. Soskice: Varieties of Capitalism  : the institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford University Press , Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-924775-7 .
  3. ↑ In the Anglo-Saxon area also known as "German model" (English WP).
  4. ^ Michel Albert: Capitalism contra capitalism. Campus-Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-593-34703-2 , p. 25.
  5. ↑ Graf Lambsdorff : You can also translate cuddle capitalism with Rhenish capitalism. Interview with ZEIT on Jul 21, 2005.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Münchau : The unsocial Klüngelwirtschaft. In: Financial Times Germany . March 2, 2006.
  7. ^ Herbert Giersch : The open society and its economy . Murmann Verlag , Hamburg 2006, p. 63.
  8. ↑ Michael Spangenberger: Prologue. In: Michael Spangenberger (Hrsg.): Rhenish capitalism and its sources in the Catholic social teaching. Aschendorff, Münster 2011, p. VIII.
  9. ↑ Werner Abelshauser: Does Rhein capitalism have a future?  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 96 kB). Item 9, accessed on July 17, 2011.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.uni-saarland.de  
  10. ↑ Rocco Buttiglione : Some thoughts on the Rhenish model. In: Michael Spangenberger (Hrsg.): Rhenish capitalism and its sources in the Catholic social teaching . Aschendorff, Münster 2011, p. 141.
  11. ↑ Walther Müller-Jentsch , Work and Citizen Status: Studies on Social and Industrial Democracy , VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften , 2008, ISBN 978-3-531-16051-1 , pp. 122, 123.
  12. ^ Gerhard Willke : Capitalism . Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-593-38199-0 , p. 193 f.
  13. ↑ Werner Abelshauser: The EU needs rules that allow unity in diversity. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 13, 2009, p. 12.
  14. ↑ Rolf Kroker, Hans-Peter Klös : Germany won the sprint. ( Memento of the original from August 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. July 29, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iwkoeln.de
  15. ↑ Tagesschau interview on October 8, 2008 with Prof. Dr. Werner Abelshauser , accessed July 17, 2011.