The Collocation of 'Social' and 'Market' in the Economy and Europe's Elusive Social Identity

Download or read book The Collocation of 'Social' and 'Market' in the Economy and Europe's Elusive Social Identity written by Mel Marquis and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Treaty on European Union elevates the idea of a highly competitive 'social market economy' to the rank of primary law without bothering to give it any definition. As a transplant, there is a distinct risk of misunderstandings now that the social market economy concept resides in a new 'host body'. In this book chapter the author traces the history of the 'economic constitution' and the 'social market economy' and comments on relevant contemporary literature. The aim of the essay is to clarify the lineage and development of the social market economy so that the European Union may forge its own version of it, inspired by certain aspects of the ideas of the German thinkers that introduced it long ago but free of misconceptions occasionally observed in public discourse.