Against this political economy background, we can now understand why it is so very hard to grasp the fundamental economic core of economic policy in the social market economy, though a few constants arguably determine Müller-Armack’s evolutionary approach. Starbatty denotes three indispensable invariants: (1) preserving the market economy as a dynamic order; (2) preserving the social balance which maintains the suppression of conflicts; and (3) securing stability and economic growth through competition and financial policies (Starbatty 1982). These imperatives, in a way, characterize a neoliberal program, which is determined by a defensive and pragmatic character and by an extremely high political sensitivity toward uneasy societal circumstances.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 556