This volume is a collection of ten essays in which the authors assess the contribution of the German Ordo-liberals fifty years after the founders of the liberal movement in Germany stated their aims and objectives. The Ordo-liberals were a group of liberal economic and legal thinkers in the Federal Republic of Germany who came into prominence as a result of their influence on, and participation in, post-war economic policy in the Federal Republic when Ludwig Erhard was Minister for Economic Affairs and, later, Chancellor. They became known as Ordo-liberals because of their commitment to...

'Commentators often see wide differences between policy as they consider how it should be conducted and how it actually emerges. Those who are involved in making trade policy, for their part, commonly accuse commentators of 'not living in the real world'. There is often a dialogue of the deaf. Part of Mr. Hayes' object has been to try to build bridges between practitioners and commentators, with suggestions for ways of improving the policy-making process in the future.'Hugh Corbet, Consultant, Trade Policy Research Centre, London. The external trade policies of the European Community are of...