Think tank networks of German neoliberalism power structures in economics and economic policies in post-war Germany

This paper aims to examine ideological and politico-economic power structures of post WWII-German economics. Using the conception of a German Neoliberal Thought Collective, organized around the Mont Pèlerin Society, it highlights the similarities between ordoliberalism as German variety of neoliberalism and (American) neoliberalism on a personal as well as on an institutional level. Furthermore, based on the methodology of a performative footprint (PFP) of economists, i.e. an attempt to conceptualize academic, political and public impact of economic thought and distinct economists, respectively, this paper shows that economists organized in a German neoliberal Thought Collective continuously had a formative impact on the course of German economic policies, up to today.