The Aktionsgemeinschaft Soziale Marktwirtschaft e. V. (Action Group for Social Market Economy) is a non-profit association founded in 1953 and based in Tübingen. According to its own description, the ASM's mission is to promote the social market economy. The association's work is aimed at the scientific community as well as the interested public.
Goals The action group has set itself the goal of contributing to further economic education. The group cooperates with other think tanks focused on regulatory economics, such as the Ludwig Erhard Foundation, the Hanns Martin Schleyer Foundation, the Walter Eucken Institute, and NOUS – Network for Regulatory Economics and Social Philosophy. Under the leadership of Alexander Rüstow, the action group became an important institution for transferring ordoliberal ideas into the political discourse in order to reach and influence a broader public beyond the scientific sphere.Ralf Ptak: Vom Ordoliberalismus zur Sozialen Marktwirtschaft – Stationen des Neoliberalismus in Deutschland. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2004, p. 260. Political scientist Elmar Altvater saw the group as an instrument for propagating the market economy.
History The association was founded on January 23, 1953. One of its co-founders, Otto Lautenbach, who had previously been head of the Freiwirtschaftsbund (Free Economy Association), became convinced that interest was not the main problem, as social reformer Silvio Gesell believed, but that increasingly excessive government activity would inevitably lead to collectivism and a totalitarian state. He therefore broke with the Freiwirtschaft and, together with several supporters, resigned from the organisation.
In 1953, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung compared the function of the ASM to that of a watchdog. The ASM was considered the "unofficial mouthpiece" of the federal government's economic policy and was particularly active in supporting the policies of Ludwig Erhard during election campaigns. A central platform during these years were the workshops attended by thinkers and practitioners of the social market economy such as Ludwig Erhard, Wilhelm Röpke, Alfred Müller-Armack, Franz Böhm, Günter Schmölders, and Karl Schiller.
In 1961, Wolfgang Frickhöffer took over as chairman of the ASM from Alexander Rüstow, who was appointed honorary chairman. Joachim Starbatty was elected as the new chairman in November 1991. The office was relocated from Heidelberg to Tübingen in 1993. In November 2014, Joachim Starbatty resigned from the board of the Action Group for Social Market Economy and was succeeded by Nils Goldschmidt. Against the backdrop of Starbatty's political involvement with the AfD, the Action Group realigned itself in terms of content and personnel. In 2018, Starbatty returned the Alexander Rüstow Plaque awarded to him by the association and resigned from the Action Group. He wanted to express his aversion to Angela Merkel, who had received the award in the same year.
Organisation Since 2014, Nils Goldschmidt has been chairman of the group. Other members of the executive board are Claus Dierksmeier, Rolf Hasse, Thomas Köster and Winfried Kreis. The managing director is Ute Friederich. The scientific advisory board includes Lars Feld, Otmar Issing, Jan-Otmar Hesse, Stefan Kolev, Martin Nettesheim, Jürgen Stark and Christian Waldhoff.
Alexander Rüstow Medal Since 1964, the association has awarded the Alexander Rüstow Medal to individuals who have rendered outstanding services to the strengthening and further development of the social market economy. The award winners include:
1964: Wilhelm Blum 1967: Ludwig Erhard 1968: Hans Otto Wesemann 1969: Ernst Schneider, Karl Blessing 1970: Franz Böhm 1971: Albrecht Düren 1972: Eberhard Günther 1973: Karl Schiller 1974: Gerd Bucerius, Hans Friderichs 1975: Thorwald Risler, Paul Schnitker 1976: Alfred Müller-Armack 1978: Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, Wolfgang Frickhoeffer 1982: Hans-Dietrich Genscher 1986: Otto Graf Lambsdorff 1987: Karl Darscheid 1992: Hans D. Barbier, Tyll Necker, Otto Schlecht 1994: Helmut Schlesinger 1996: Wolfgang Kartte 1998: Michael Otto 2000: Erich Lange, Dieter Spiess 2001: Kurt Biedenkopf 2004: Bernhard Vogel, Hans Willgerodt 2007: Berthold Leibinger 2011: Horst Köhler 2013: Paul Kirchhof 2015: Reinhard Marx 2018: Angela Merkel 2021: Jeffrey D. Sachs 2024: Deirdre N. McCloskey
Alfred Müller-Armack Medal of Merit Since 2016, the Action Group has awarded a medal of merit in memory of Alfred Müller-Armack. The recipients include:
2016: Franz Schoser 2018: Walter Oswalt, Rolf H. Hasse 2022: Ortwin Guhl, Karen Horn 2023: Jürgen Stark
References