Scholars and the public are increasingly exploring alternatives to the prevailing capitalist economic system. This discourse was initially sparked by the Great Financial Crisis and has since accelerated due to escalating environmental challenges. Today, it is further intensified by ongoing disruptions to the international economic order.

This book makes a groundbreaking contribution to this debate. This “Market Economy Manifesto” presents a vision of a market economy that operates outside capitalist frameworks and principles, while grounded in fundamentals such as ethical commitments, personal responsibility, entrepreneurship, and competition. It articulates thirty concise theses that define the institutional scaffolds of an ethical and ecological market economy, covering all economic sectors, from entrepreneurship to public finance and international trade. Each thesis is elaborated in a section devoted to the scientific foundations, supported by references to contemporary economic research, establishing the Manifesto’s vision as “realistic” while acknowledging the political obstacles to its implementation. Accordingly, a third chapter offers proposals for navigating these constraints through specific regulatory and fiscal policies that are achievable within the current socio-economic context.

The book aims to bridge the political divide between the right and left by proposing common ground that addresses citizens' concerns, which have contributed to the rise of populism, while upholding a progressive agenda focused on eco-social change. This work is intended for a diverse audience, including concerned citizens invested in economic policy and societal transformation. It also challenges members of the economics profession to engage in discussions about a radical reformation of capitalism.

Carsten Herrmann-Pillath is Professor and Permanent Fellow of the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, Erfurt University, Germany, and Distinguished Professor of Economics at Beijing Normal University, China. Over four decades, he has contributed widely to institutional, evolutionary, and ecological economics, international economics, philosophy of economics, and Chinese studies. His 30 books and 500+ articles include, more recently, A New Principles of Economics The Science of Markets (with Christian Hederer) (Routledge 2024), HAVINGS. Steps towards a New Economic Philosophy of Property and Beyond (Campus, 2024) and Embodiment, Political Economy and Human Flourishing: an Embodied Cognition Approach to Economic Life (with Frédéric Basso) (Palgrave 2024).

Stephan Bannas earned his doctorate in economic theory from the University of Cologne. He also completed undergraduate studies in Catholic theology. After working as a political consultant at the European level and in the high-tech sector, he established his own corporate group, which focuses on education and professional training for tax advisors and lawyers. He served for six years on the board of the Association for Ecological Economics (VÖÖ). He is the author of several books, including specialist publications and works of social criticism.