Alfred Müller-Armack (28 June 1901 – 16 March 1978) was a German

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He coined the term " social market economy" in 1946. Müller-Armack was professor of economics at University of Münster and

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. He was a central figure of the "Cologne school". He always pointed out that the economy had to serve humanity. A regulatory environment should provide the basis for a form of competition that was to the best for all people. In 1933 he published a book with some praise of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

, entitled ''Ideas of the State and Economy Order in the New Reich.'' The Nazis did however not like the book and a second edition was refused in 1935. He worked as an advisor to the Nazi regime and the German army, and contributed to discussions about the post-war economic order. When he became more and more disillusioned with the Nazi regime, he withdrew to his academic research and turned towards religious sociological studies. This resulted in a big volume entitled "Das Jahrhundert ohne Gott" (''Century without God''), published in 1948. After the war, he joined the CDU and he coined the phrase “Social Market Economy” in his book “Wirtschaftslenkung und Marktwirtschaft” (''Economic Steering and Market Economy''), written in 1946 and published in 1947. In his understanding, the Social Market Economy combined the power and dynamism of a free market economy with a limited social equilibration and social security system. In 1950, he got a position as full professor at the

. Müller-Armack was a member of the

Mont Pelerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, philosophers, historians, intellectuals and business leaders.Michael Novak, 'The Moral Imperative of a Free Economy', in '' The 4% Solution: Unleashing the E ...

an organization of free market economists and classical liberal thinkers established by

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Hayek ...

although Müller-Armack was less libertarian oriented than Hayek. After 1952, he worked in the

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

under

Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is known for leading the West German postwar economic ...

(CDU) as section chief of the newly founded policy department (Grundsatzabteilung). From 1958 to 1963 he was Europa-Staatssekretär, (Under-)Secretary of State for European Affairs, in the ministry. The failure of the negotiations for the United Kingdom to join the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

prompted his resignation that became effective in late 1963. He returned to the University of Cologne where he continued to teach until his retirement in 1970. Besides his academic and political activities, he held several business positions like member of the board of the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solution ...

(EIB) and chairman of the board for the Rheinischen Stahlwerke (Rhenish steel works) in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1971 he published his memoirs with the title „Auf dem Weg nach Europa“ (''On the way towards Europe'').Auf dem Weg nach Europa, Erinnerungen und Ausblicke, Stuttgart, Wunderlich und Poeschel (1971)

References

* 1901 births 1978 deaths Politicians from Essen University of Cologne faculty Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany University of Münster faculty 20th-century German economists State Secretaries of Germany Member of the Mont Pelerin Society {{Germany-academic-bio-stub