infonet-economy

Something must have gone wrong with the modern project of liberal society and market economy: economic progress doesn't any longer enlarge citizens' real freedom and improve the social situation. Rather, it develops inherent necessities which seem to turn against the weaker part of society. Especially in European countries, the welfare state is running behind, fighting against the symptoms of "exploding" social costs of private business. The challenge of today is to rethink the principles of a well-ordered society of free and equal citizens and to re-embed market economy into these principles, or in brief: to "civilize" market economy. From an ethical point of view, real civic freedom takes precedence over "free markets". Such a republican liberalism is essentially different than market liberalism. With the core idea of economic citizenship rights, a new perspective of emancipatory social progress comes into view…