Rescuing a country that faced almost a total destruction
The world’s most influential economist?
This guy changed the course of world history.
The Genius Who Jump-Started Central Europe’s Devastated Economy
Ludwig Erhard
After World War II, the economy of Germany had been totally destroyed.
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This economist had truly revolutionary views.02
During the war, he had been part of an underground resistance group which bravely opposed Hitler.03
His economic theories recognize the connection between “the free market” and “social justice.” His economic policies brought Germany out of a situation of total destruction, and made it the most powerful manufacturing economy in Europe.The man who invented the economic miracle
How one nation went from the demolition of its infrastructure to becoming Europe’s largest economic force
Ludwig Erhard is the man who discovered that a “free market” leads to “social justice” and that property rights lead to civil rights.
The “zero hour” — Postwar Germany in 1945: no electricity, no telephone, no running water, no roads, no bridges, no functioning sewage systemMany observers assumed that Germany would permanently be relegated to a Third World status.Ludwig Erhard was the brilliant economist responsible for creating “the economic miracle” — the development of Germany into a leading world economic power, and the biggest manufacturing economy in Europe.
The Economist Who Saved a Nation
Ludwig Erhard Rescued Germany from what could have become a permanent Third World status. The country was destroyed, infrastructure gone, millions dead, millions more suffering after having been subjected to Nazi oppression for 12 years. How could this nation recover?
Ludwig Erhard understood that “social justice” is the product of a free market. He understood that civil rights are the products of property rights.
Ludwig Erhard: Bringing Social Justice by Means of Free Market Economics
Postwar Germany rejected the policies which had created horrific misery and death: regulated market places, wage and price controls, high rates of taxation, and government-owned industries.
Until May 1945, these “National Socialist” policies had destroyed much of Europe. In the new postwar world, Ludwig Erhard would show that property rights lead to civil rights, and that a market economy can be used to benefit everyone in society.