When the rest of Europe stagnated in the late 1970s, Germany suffered the least and recovered the quickest of all the major European states. Its ability to withstand the inflationary pressures of the period became the model for other European states: first, through the abortive currency pegs to the deutsche mark of the 1980s and 1990s; second, through the incorporation of ordoliberal principles into the ECB constitution and the EU Commission's competition-focused policies; and third, through the rules-based approach to governing the Euro project. From the Maastricht convergence criteria to the Stability and Growth Pact to the proposed new fiscal treaty—it's all about the economic constitution—the rules, the ordo.

Mark Blyth, Austerity, loc. 375