Facing to economic and social problems after the WWI, there was a growing distrust of free market economy in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. So, while denying the crude liberalism of the 19th century, a stream of economic thinking to reassess the value of liberalism led to Ordoliberalism, worrying about the inclination towards collectivism. Then, they considered conditions for the market economy to function properly and the rule setting to satisfy them. This paper traces the generation process of such Ordoliberalism and how it became a principal order for social and economic policy of West Germany after WWII. On the other hand, Tanzan Ishibashi, known as Japan’s prominent prewar liberal, was also skeptical of the crude liberal market economy of the 19th century. Basically, influenced by British New Liberalism, Ishibashi argued for liberal intervention, along with his insistence for democracy and anti-colonialism. In his arguments as a journalist in prewar period, a certain common orientation with German Ordoliberalism is observed. After the WWII he entered politics and became prime minister. However, in Japan a German like economic order was not established at last. The reason of such difference in both countries can be a theme for further analysis.
Naoki Fukuzawa (Wed,) studied this question.