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Brüning’s Austerity Policies of the Early 1930s Intensified the Economic Slump and Increased Unemployment

Author

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  • Stephanie Ettmeier
  • Alexander Kriwoluzky

Abstract

May 2022 marked the 90th anniversary of the end of Heinrich Brüning’s term as Reich Chancellor. To this day, the economic effects of Brüning’s extreme austerity measures remain unclear. However, new data and calculations have made an initial quantification of the economic consequences of Brüning’s policies possible. An analysis based on a time series model illustrates how the Weimar Republic’s economy could have developed without Brüning’s austerity measures. According to this model, real GDP fell by around 4.5 percent overall in the reference year 1932 and unemployment rose sharply as a result of Brüning’s emergency decrees. Considering this analysis, current calls for fiscal austerity to reduce debt should be questioned.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephanie Ettmeier & Alexander Kriwoluzky, 2022. "Brüning’s Austerity Policies of the Early 1930s Intensified the Economic Slump and Increased Unemployment," DIW Weekly Report, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 12(24/25), pages 163-168.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwdwr:dwr12-24-1
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Austerity; Fiscal policy; Germany; Great Depression; Structural vector autoregression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-

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