Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T06:26:09.526Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE GERMAN ANTI-KEYNES? ON WALTER EUCKEN’S MACROECONOMICS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2021

Lars P. Feld ,
Ekkehard A. Köhler  and
Daniel Nientiedt
Lars P. Feld*
Affiliation:
Lars P. Feld: University of Freiburg and Walter Eucken Institut
Ekkehard A. Köhler
Affiliation:
Ekkehard A. Köhler: University of Siegen
Daniel Nientiedt
Affiliation:
Daniel Nientiedt: New York University.
*
feld@eucken.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The work of Walter Eucken (1891–1950), founder of German ordoliberalism, is often described as being in direct opposition to that of John Maynard Keynes. Our paper challenges this claim by making two main arguments. First, we show that Eucken supported a proto-Keynesian stimulus program at the height of the Great Depression, the so-called Lautenbach plan of 1931. Second, we analyze his critique of full employment policy, which reveals that Eucken’s approach to solving macroeconomic problems is fundamentally different from, if not necessarily contrary to, that of Keynes.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 548 - 563
Copyright
© The History of Economics Society, 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the European Society for the History of Economic Thought (ESHET), held in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 29–31 May 2014. The authors would like to thank the participants at the conference for their suggestions, in particular Jörg Bibow, Bertram Schefold, and Hans-Michael Trautwein. Valuable comments were also received from Heiko Burret, Uwe Dathe, Harald Hagemann, Hansjörg Klausinger, Oliver Landmann, Viktor Vanberg, and two anonymous referees.

References

REFERENCES

Allen, Christopher S. 1989. “The Underdevelopment of Keynesianism in the Federal Republic of Germany.” In Hall, Peter A., ed., The Political Power of Economic Ideas: Keynesianism across Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 263–290.Google Scholar
Backhaus, Juergen. 2009. “Keynesianism in Germany.” In Lawson, Tony and Pesaran, Hashem, eds., Keynes’ Economics: Methodological Issues. London: Routledge, pp. 209–253.Google Scholar
Barens, Ingo, and Caspari, Volker. 2015. “Problem oder Instrument der Wirtschaftspolitik? John Maynard Keynes’ Ansichten zu Inflation, Deflation und Reflation.” In Hagemann, Harald and Kromphardt, Jürgen, eds., Für eine bessere gesamteuropäische Wirtschaftspolitik. Marburg: Metropolis, pp. 249–291.Google Scholar
Beck, Thorsten, and Kotz, Hans-Helmut, eds. 2017. Ordoliberalism: A German Oddity? London: CEPR Press.Google Scholar
Beveridge, William H. 1944. Full Employment in a Free Society. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Bibow, Jörg. 2018. “How Germany’s Anti-Keynesianism Has Brought Europe to Its Knees.” International Review of Applied Economics 32 (5): 569–588.10.1080/02692171.2017.1369938CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biebricher, Thomas, and Vogelmann, Frieder, eds. 2017. The Birth of Austerity: German Ordoliberalism and Contemporary Neoliberalism. London: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Blaug, Mark. 1997. Economic Theory in Retrospect. Fifth edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511805639CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blyth, Mark. 2013. Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bofinger, Peter. 2016. “German Macroeconomics: The Long Shadow of Walter Eucken.” In Bratsiotis, George and Cobham, David, eds., German Macro: How It’s Different and Why That Matters. Brussels: European Policy Centre, pp. 8–19.Google Scholar
Bombach, Gottfried. 1990. “Walter Euckens ‘Grundlagen der Nationalökonomie’: Botschaft und Verpflichtung.” In Bombach, Gottfried, Lenel, Hans Otto, and Schlecht, Otto, eds., Vademecum zu einem Wegbereiter der modernen Theorie in Deutschland. Düsseldorf: Verlag Wirtschaft und Finanzen, pp. 37–62.Google Scholar
Borchardt, Knut, and Schötz, Hans Otto, eds. 1991. Wirtschaftspolitik in der Krise. Die (Geheim-) Konferenz der Friedrich List-Gesellschaft im September 1931 über Möglichkeiten und Folgen einer Kreditausweitung. Baden-Baden: Nomos.Google Scholar
Commun, Patricia, and Kolev, Stefan, eds. 2018. Wilhelm Röpke (1899–1966): A Liberal Political Economist and Conservative Social Philosopher. Heidelberg: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-68357-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dal Pont Legrand, Muriel, and Hagemann, Harald. 2017. “Business Cycles, Growth, and Economic Policy: Schumpeter and the Great Depression.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 39 (1): 19–33.10.1017/S1053837216001048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dathe, Uwe, and Hedtke, Ulrich. 2018. “Habent sua fata professores. Joseph A. Schumpeter an Walter Eucken.” Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics No. 18/10. Freiburg: Walter Eucken Institut.Google Scholar
Dillard, Dudley. 1986. “The Influence of Keynesian Thought on German Economic Policy.” In Wattel, Harold L., ed., The Policy Consequences of John Maynard Keynes. London: Macmillan, pp. 116–127.Google Scholar
Dold, Malte, and Krieger, Tim, eds. 2020. Ordoliberalism and European Economic Policy: Between Realpolitik and Economic Utopia. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dullien, Sebastian, and Guérot, Ulrike. 2012. “The Long Shadow of Ordoliberalism: Germany’s Approach to the Euro Crisis.” European Council on Foreign Relations Policy Brief 49. London: European Council on Foreign Relations.Google Scholar
Eichengreen, Barry. 1995. Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919–1939. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eichengreen, Barry, and Hatton, Timothy J.. 1988. “Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective: An Overview.” In Eichengreen, Barry and Hatton, Timothy J., eds., Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 1–59.Google Scholar
Eichengreen, Barry, and Ritschl, Albrecht. 2009. “Understanding West German Economic Growth in the 1950s.” Cliometrica 3 (3): 191–219.10.1007/s11698-008-0035-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eucken, Walter. 1923. Kritische Betrachtungen zum deutschen Geldproblem. Jena: Gustav Fischer.Google Scholar
Eucken, Walter. [1940] 1950. The Foundations of Economics: History and Theory in the Analysis of Economic Reality. London: William Hodge.Google Scholar
Eucken, Walter. 1948. “On the Theory of the Centrally Administered Economy: An Analysis of the German Experiment (Part I).” Economica, New Series, 15 (58): 79–100.10.2307/2550193CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eucken, Walter. [1948] 1989. “What Kind of Economic and Social System?” In Peacock, Alan T. and Willgerodt, Hans, eds., Germany’s Social Market Economy: Origins and Evolution. London: Macmillan, pp. 27–45.10.1007/978-1-349-20145-7_3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eucken, Walter. 1951. This Unsuccessful Age or The Pains of Economic Progress. London: William Hodge.Google Scholar
Eucken, Walter. [1952] 2004. Grundsätze der Wirtschaftspolitik. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
Feld, Lars. P., Köhler, Ekkehard A., and Nientiedt, Daniel. 2017. “The ‘Dark Ages’ of German Macroeconomics and Other Alleged Shortfalls in German Economic Thought.” In Beck, Thorsten and Kotz, Hans-Helmut, eds., Ordoliberalism: A German Oddity? London: CEPR Press, pp. 41–50.Google Scholar
Fèvre, Raphaël. 2018. “Keynes and Eucken on Capitalism and Power.” In Mosca, Manuela, ed., Power in Economic Thought. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 321–347.10.1007/978-3-319-94039-7_12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gestrich, Hans. [1944] 1957. Kredit und Sparen. Edited by Walter Eucken. Düsseldorf: Helmut Küpper.Google Scholar
Goldschmidt, Nils. 2015. “Leonhard Mikschs Beitrag zur Ordnungstheorie und -politik. Einsichten in sein Tagebuch nach 1945.” In Feld, Lars P. and Köhler, Ekkehard A., eds., Wettbewerbsordnung und Monopolbekämpfung. Zum Gedenken an Leonhard Miksch (1901–1950). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp. 37–52.Google Scholar
Goldschmidt, Nils, and Hesse, Jan-Otmar. 2013. “Eucken, Hayek and The Road to Serfdom.” In Leeson, Robert, ed., Hayek: A Collaborative Biography. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 123–146.10.1057/9781137328564_8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldschmidt, Nils, and Wohlgemuth, Michael. 2008. “Social Market Economy: Origins, Meanings and Interpretations.” Constitutional Political Economy 19 (3): 261–276.10.1007/s10602-008-9047-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagemann, Harald. 2009. “Zur frühen Rezeption der General Theory durch deutschsprachige Wirtschaftswissenschaftler.” In Hagemann, Harald, Horn, Gustav, and Krupp, Hans-Jürgen, eds., Aus gesamtwirtschaftlicher Sicht. Festschrift für Jürgen Kromphardt. Marburg: Metropolis, pp. 71–104.Google Scholar
Hagemann, Harald. 2017. “Ordoliberalism, the Social-Market Economy, and Keynesianism in Germany, 1945–1974.” In Backhouse, Roger E., Bateman, Bradley W., Nishizawa, Tamotsu, and Plehwe, Dieter, eds., Liberalism and the Welfare State: Economists and Arguments for the Welfare State. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 57–74.Google Scholar
Hayek, Friedrich A. [1931] 2015. “Konjunkturankurbelung durch Investitionen?” In Geld und Konjunktur. Band I: Frühe und unveröffentlichte Schriften, 1924–1931. Edited by Klausinger, Hansjörg. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp. 499–506.Google Scholar
Hesse, Jan-Otmar. 2010. Wirtschaft als Wissenschaft. Die Volkswirtschaftslehre in der frühen Bundesrepublik. Frankfurt am Main: Campus.Google Scholar
Hien, Josef, and Joerges, Christian, eds. 2017. Ordoliberalism, Law and the Rule of Economics. Oxford: Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Hutchison, Terence W. 1979. “Notes on the Effects of Economic Ideas on Policy: The Example of the German Social Market Economy.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 135 (3): 426–441.Google Scholar
James, Harold. 1986. The German Slump: Politics and Economics, 1924–36. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Janssen, Hauke. 2012. Nationalökonomie und Nationalsozialismus. Die deutsche Volkswirtschaftslehre in den dreißiger Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts. Fourth edition. Marburg: Metropolis.Google Scholar
Jewkes, John. 1951. “Introduction.” In Eucken, Walter, This Unsuccessful Age or The Pains of Economic Progress. London: William Hodge, pp. 7–25.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. [1919] 2019. The Economic Consequences of the Peace. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-030-04759-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1923. A Tract on Monetary Reform. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1936. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1940. How to Pay for the War. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 2016. Gesammelte Artikel im “Wirtschaftsdienst” von 1920 bis 1932. Edited by Biesenbender, Kristin, Preissl, Brigitte, and Wacker-Theodorakopoulos, Cora. Marburg: Metropolis.Google Scholar
Klausinger, Hansjörg. 1999. “German Anticipations of the Keynesian Revolution? The Case of Lautenbach, Neisser and Röpke.” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 6 (3): 378–403.10.1080/10427719900000073CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klausinger, Hansjörg. 2001. “Gustav Stolper, Der deutsche Volkswirt, and the Controversy on Economic Policy at the End of the Weimar Republic.” History of Political Economy 33 (2): 241–267.10.1215/00182702-33-2-241CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Köhler, Ekkehard A. 2015. “Das geldtheoretische Denken und die Geldordnungsvorstellungen von Leonhard Miksch.” In Feld, Lars P. and Köhler, Ekkehard A., eds., Wettbewerbsordnung und Monopolbekämpfung. Zum Gedenken an Leonhard Miksch (1901–1950). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp. 61–80.Google Scholar
Kolev, Stefan. 2016. “Walter Eucken.” In Marciano, Alain and Ramello, Giovanni Battista, eds., Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. New York: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_210-1.Google Scholar
Köster, Roman. 2013. “Vor der Krise. Die Keynes-Rezeption in der Weimarer Republik.” Mittelweg 36 (3): 32–46.Google Scholar
Party, Labour. 1945. Let Us Face the Future: A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of the Nation. London: Labour Party.Google Scholar
Landmann, Oliver. 1981. “Theoretische Grundlagen für eine aktive Krisenbekämpfung in Deutschland 1930–1933.” In Bombach, Gottfried, Netzband, Karl-Bernhard, Ramser, Hans-Jürgen, and Timmermann, Manfred, eds., Der Keynesianismus III. Die geld- und beschäftigungstheoretische Diskussion in Deutschland zur Zeit von Keynes. Berlin: Springer, pp. 215–420.Google Scholar
Landmann, Oliver. 2017. “What’s Wrong with EZ: Conflicting Narratives.” In Beck, Thorsten and Kotz, Hans-Helmut, eds., Ordoliberalism: A German Oddity? London: CEPR Press, pp. 123–133.Google Scholar
Landmann, Oliver. 2020. “Germany and the Euro Crisis: Ordoliberalism in the Dock.” In Dold, Malte and Krieger, Tim, eds., Ordoliberalism and European Economic Policy: Between Realpolitik and Economic Utopia. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 151–166.Google Scholar
Lautenbach, Wilhelm. 1952. Zins, Kredit und Produktion. Edited by Stützel, Wolfgang. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).Google Scholar
Lautenbach, Wilhelm. 1991a. “Anschreiben.” In Borchardt, Knut and Schötz, Hans Otto, eds., Wirtschaftspolitik in der Krise. Die (Geheim-)Konferenz der Friedrich List-Gesellschaft im September 1931 über Möglichkeiten und Folgen einer Kreditausweitung. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 307–309.Google Scholar
Lautenbach, Wilhelm. 1991b. Denkschrift “Möglichkeiten einer Konjunkturbelebung durch Investition und Kreditausweitung.” In Borchardt, Knut and Schötz, Hans Otto, eds., Wirtschaftspolitik in der Krise. Die (Geheim-)Konferenz der Friedrich List-Gesellschaft im September 1931 über Möglichkeiten und Folgen einer Kreditausweitung. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 309–325.Google Scholar
Münchau, Wolfgang. 2014. “The Wacky Economics of Germany’s Parallel Universe.” Financial Times, 16 November.Google Scholar
Oliver, Henry M. 1960. “German Neoliberalism.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 74 (1): 117–149.Google Scholar
Patinkin, Don. 1982. Anticipations of the General Theory? And Other Essays on Keynes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Riese, Hajo. 1972. “Ordnungsidee und Ordnungspolitik—Kritik einer wirtschaftspolitischen Konzeption.” Kyklos 25 (1): 24–48.10.1111/j.1467-6435.1972.tb02569.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Röpke, Wilhelm. 1931. “Praktische Konjunkturpolitik. Die Arbeit der Brauns-Kommission.” Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 34: 423–464.Google Scholar
Sally, Razeen. 1996. “Ordoliberalism and the Social Market: Classical Political Economy from Germany.” New Political Economy 1 (2): 233–257.10.1080/13563469608406254CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spoerer, Mark, and Streb, Jochen. 2013. Neue deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Munich: De Gruyter Oldenbourg.10.1524/9783486766561CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temin, Peter. 1991. “Soviet and Nazi Economic Planning in the 1930s.” Economic History Review, New Series, 44 (4): 573–593.10.2307/2597802CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tooze, Adam. 2007. The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Vanberg, Viktor. 2004. “The Freiburg School: Walter Eucken and Ordoliberalism.” Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics No. 04/11. Freiburg: Walter Eucken Institut.Google Scholar
Wren-Lewis, Simon. 2012. “Anti-Keynesian Germany.” Available at: https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2012/03/anti-keynesian-germany.html. Accessed July 29, 2021.Google Scholar
Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Ina. 2000. Austerity in Britain: Rationing, Controls and Consumption, 1939–1955. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar