The Walter Eucken Institut is a German ordo-liberal economic

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

based in Freiburg im Breisgau,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The Institute was founded in 1954, four years after the death of economist

Walter Eucken Walter Eucken (; 17 January 1891 – 20 March 1950) was a German economist of the Freiburg school and father of ordoliberalism. Ordoliberalism was based on the concept of social market economy balancing free markets with regulatory oversight. The ...

, by a number of his friends and pupils. The Institute's creation was supported by

Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician and economist affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Chancellor of Germany (1949–), chancellor of West Ge ...

, then Secretary of Economic Affairs and later Chancellor of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Honorary Presidents have included

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

and James M. Buchanan. Since September 2010, the institute is directed by Lars Feld. The Walter Eucken Institute's research interest is constitutional and institutional questions in economics and social sciences, including preserving and developing a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

order,

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

ideas and their institutional realisation, and the economic constitution of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

External links

Official site

References

Non-profit organisations based in Baden-Württemberg Freiburg im Breisgau 1954 establishments in West Germany {{Econ-stub