Whether you like Bitcoin or not depends on the viewing angle. Especially for fans: inside a lesser-known school of thought, BTC could be an important part of the theoretical framework: We are talking about the human market economy.
How about living in a world built on Bitcoin? For many followers of the Austrian school of economics, it would be the completion of an economic utopia. An exemption from what they see as the totalitarian claim of the central banks and the fiat compulsion. Granted, that sounds extreme.
One does not have to share this attitude towards the state monetary structure to recognize that fiat money does not have to be the last word in truth. Other schools of economic thought are also starting with the Bitcoin idea and see potential in digital gold for a better and fairer world. One of these schools of thought is the humane market economy. This is a tradition that is based on both the social market economy and humanism and promotes a holistic and sustainable economic model.
Representatives of this school of thought are of the opinion that the ideal of the social market economy is no longer the right compass to navigate economies through impending crises such as climate change and social inequality. An update is needed, voilà: Die Humane market economy was born.
In terms of its structure, it is probably best to be compared with the ordoliberalism in the tradition of the Freiburg economists around Walter Eucken. Instead of redistribution and strong intervention by the state, ordoliberalism demands as much freedom as possible for economic actors – of course in a set of rules provided for this purpose and established by the state. This is the only way to create fair economic competition and guarantee citizens’ political freedom.
The four pillars of the human market economy
The humane market economy builds on this concept, but brings some additional principles into the equation in addition to the political framework. The humane market economy is based specifically on four pillars:
- education
- Regulatory framework
- Landscape of values
- Humanism and the concept of man
The first pillar already reveals that the focus is on the individual. Because for theorists: inside the human market economy it is clear: Education is the key to a self-determined life. The state should therefore invest less resources in social equilibrium and invest more in education. In this way, self-realization and economic freedom are possible for everyone.
In terms of the regulatory framework, the humane market economy makes use of the classic motifs of ordoliberalism according to Walter Eucken and Franz Böhm. The state enables economic competition, but also intervenes when monopolies or oligopolies are formed. In a human market economy, people enjoy all the opportunities that come with them, but they also have to be liable for their actions.
In contrast to ordoliberalism, the human market economy is based on a clear ethical framework. Actors do not operate in a value-free space, but orientate themselves towards ideals such as humanity, personal responsibility and solidarity. The sustainability of economic activity also plays a key role in the human market economy. Anarcho-capitalist ideas, as represented by some Bitcoiners, are therefore not congruent with the ideals of the human market economy.
The naming of this theoretical economic order is humanism. For the humane market economy, the focus is on people – with all their complexity. The Homo oeconomicus rejects the humane market economy as a basic assumption of economics; At the end of the day there is the question: How can the modern industrialized economy be given a functional and humane order?
And what does that have to do with Bitcoin?
One of the spokesmen for the human market economy is Maximilian Erlmeier, an entrepreneur in the brewing industry – and quite successful. Erlmeier made a fortune exporting the Hofbräuhaus beer brand. For him it is clear: the social market economy has failed, it needs a rethink.
In an interview with BTC-ECHO, Erlmeier also emphasizes the special importance of Bitcoin for a fair and self-determined life.
Bitcoin is a way of creating wealth for many. I believe that Bitcoin will mean that many people will take their finances into their own hands in the future.
Maximilian Erlmeier opposite BTC-ECHO
No real freedom without Bitcoin
The aspect of freedom in particular weighs heavily on Erlmeier. The importance of decentralized money becomes particularly clear when it comes to financial inclusion. After all, private-sector actors such as banks decide who gets a bank account and who doesn’t. But how should the maxim of the social market economy, “prosperity for all”, be possible if there is not even rudimentary access to the financial system? Bitcoin can help here, says Erleimer:
Nowadays many areas of life have been taken out of hand. It depends on whether you get a bank account or a loan.
Maximilian Erlmeier in conversation with BTC-ECHO
“Inflation is an Evil”
But inflation is also a thorn in the side of the theorists of a human market economy. How can self-determination be possible when people cannot even determine what they use every day, namely their money? Attentive readers of this newspaper should have already noticed that Bitcoiners are not friends of currency devaluation. Erlmeier isn’t either.
“Inflation is an evil that has always been and always will be.” Already thousands of years ago it was common practice to gradually reduce the gold content of coins, says Erlmeier.
“That just shows that whoever has the monopoly over the creation of money, with this privilege commits dirty things and expropriates the savers,” said the entrepreneur. This statement could not be more recent: only recently, the ECB raised its inflation target from “close to but below 2 percent” to two percent.
And this is where Bitcoin comes in. Not only for representatives of the humane market economy, BTC is a vehicle that makes the amount of money controllable for the first time. Since the cryptocurrency is a decentralized project, all network participants can monitor compliance with this upper limit. Nobody has the monopoly over the creation of money – in human history BTC is an absolute novelty.
In the end, from the perspective of the human market economy, BTC is only one component in the overall economic structure – but it is a decisive one.