Everything About the INSM

The initiative wants to renew the social market economy of Ludwig Erhard and adjust it to globalization, demographic change and the knowledge society. The INSM stands for a social system of freedom and responsibility.

According to the initiative, a consistent competitive orientation of our economic and social policy is necessary to create enduring economic growth and new jobs in Germany. This would also strengthen the ability of individuals to act responsibly and meet risks successfully. Thus, our goal is the sustainable support of the preparedness for reform in politics and society.

Economic policy: Less is more. The state should confine itself to its core competencies and aim to simplify bureaucracy and approval procedures. Furthermore: The reduction of taxes and duties creates a scope for the development of individual initiatives of citizens and businesses.

Employment policy: Those elements within the social and employment law that prevent the creation of new jobs need to be reviewed and, if necessary, corrected. The tariff policy should be more geared towards the necessities of the business parties. This means, for example, the development of flexible working hours and the creation of flexible wage components.

Social policy: We want to strengthen the principle of help for self help. Standards of complete coverage are hard to finance. Private provision is an important additional pillar. Nevertheless it is understood that the solidarity with the needy of society is also at the core of the social market economy.

Educational policy: In the information and knowledge society of the 21st century much depends on the resource knowledge. That is why educational policies are at the center of the reform debate. We demand: More competition, more efficiency and a faster pace.

The initiative uses the possibilities of modern communication in order to transmit its ordoliberal message to policy makers and the population. Depending on the topic, the initiative combines classical advertising, PR and press work as well as online communication. In doing so, the initiative cooperates with respected media partners. Furthermore, the work of the initiative is supported by prominent personalities from the economy, the sciences and society as a whole.

The INSM is an open platform that spans sector and party limits and is open for everyone who feels connected with the notion of the social market economy. The work of the INSM is financed by the employer associations of the metal and electrical industry. After taxes, the INSM is equipped with an annual budget of 7.01 million euro for the year 2011. Scientifically, the INSM is supported by the Institute of the German Economy Cologne (IW).

Public figures voluntarily assist the INSM in its reform campaign for more economic growth and jobs in Germany. The former president of the German Central Bank Professor Hans Tietmeyer is the chairman of this network. Beyond that, citizens from the economy, politics and sports support the initiative as ambassadors and in their function as members of the Society for the Promotion of the INSM e. V.

The form of enterprise for the initiative is that of a GmbH; more precisely its name is: INSM – Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft GmbH.

In December 1999, the employer associations of the metal and electronic industry established the berolino.pr GmbH, which was based in Cologne. The sole task of this company was the buildup and management of a modern reform initiative for the renewal of the social market economy in light of challenges such as globalization, demographic change and an alteration of the working environment.

Since fall 2000, the GmbH works for a market-based renewal of our economic and social system under the name of “Initiative for a New Social Market Economy” (INSM). The activities of the INSM were diverse and multi-media based from the start: It calls attention to the need for reform in Germany and points out political action alternatives by means of brochures and public events as well as through its ambassadors and supporters.

Professor Dr. Hans Tietmeyer, former president of the German Central Bank is the president of the board of trustees for the INSM. In the course of time, public figures continuously get involved in and work for the goals of the INSM.

In 2004, the INSM and its leading agency Scholz & Friends are awarded the renowned political award for the best annual advert motif.

In 2005, the Association for the Promotion of the INSM e. V. is founded. Its self-understanding is that of a contact point for all citizens who feel committed to the notion of a social market economy.

In 2007, the berolino.pr GmbH starts operating under the name of Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft GmbH.

In 2010, the company headquarter of the INSM is moved from Cologne to Berlin. As of this year, the leading agency for the INSM is Serviceplan.

The INSM is financed by the employer associations of the metal and electrical industry. To consolidate the social market economy in society is the interest of these groups. By no means does this consolidation only serve the needs of the corporations. These groups, as well as all other associates of the INSM, believe that the social market economy is a social system for the benefit of society as a whole.

There are, of course, also different interests within the social market economy. The INSM sees itself as an ordoliberal conscience, rather than a representative of employer interests. Subsidies, for example, are discouraged by the INSM; as a matter of fact, the INSM even demands substantive cutbacks of existing subsidies. This demand also affects multiple companies.

The INSM spans party limits. It is supported by members of the entire democratic array of political parties.

The INSM has been working for market-based reforms since the year 2000. On its way forward, Germany is able to draw on a well established and proven recipe: Ludwig Erhard’s social market economy.

It is the goal of the INSM to adapt this time-proven system to the conditions of the 21st century. In particular, those conditions are globalization, the information and knowledge society, the alteration of the working environment and demographic change. To trigger a broad, societal debate on how to meet these new challenges is what the INSM works for. On its way into the future, the INSM orientates itself by the principles of the social market economy: freedom and responsibility, ownership and competition, accountability and social responsibility.

To the contrary: The INSM does not want to remove, but preserve the social component of the social market economy. Reforms should set the welfare systems to a condition that enables them to function sustainably.

For example: The welfare state is financed to a large degree by the contributions that employers and employees make towards their social insurance. If people are unemployed, the state earns less money. In order to keep up its social services, the state must raise social insurance contributions. This, however, means that supplemental wage costs rise which, in turn, inhibits the creation of new jobs. In this manner, the welfare state destroys the very foundations on which it is built. This vicious circle must be broken.