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Der späte Fluch des Dritten Reichs: Pfadabhängigkeiten in der Entstehung der bundesdeutschen Wirtschaftsordnung

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  • Albrecht Ritschl

Abstract

According to a popular belief, West Germany's post‐war economic system constituted a clean break with the structures of the Third Reich. The present article takes a critical look at this myth, and examines the continuity between the economic framework of the Third Reich and the Social Market Economy. In a whole array of sectors of the German economy, regulations from the Nazi period continued to be in force after the war, or were even reintroduced. To accommodate these regulations, the Anti‐Cartel Act of 1957 defined these areas as exempt from its general ban on cartels. In this sense, Germany's current reforms may be viewed as the laborious transformation of an economic system whose substance originated not in the Social Market Economy of the 1950s, but rather in the command economy of the 1930s. The findings of this article confirm that the impact of the Third Reich on the economic policies of post‐war Germany was significantly greater than hitherto known.

Suggested Citation

  • Albrecht Ritschl, 2005. "Der späte Fluch des Dritten Reichs: Pfadabhängigkeiten in der Entstehung der bundesdeutschen Wirtschaftsordnung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 6(2), pages 151-170, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:perwir:v:6:y:2005:i:2:p:151-170
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-6493.2005.00174.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Patrick A. Puhani, 2015. "Employment industry and occupational continuity in Germany: from the Nazi regime to the post-war economic miracle," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(8), pages 603-612, May.
    2. Sebastian A.J. Keibek, 2016. "Using probate data to determine historical male occupational structures," Working Papers 26, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge, revised 21 Mar 2017.
    3. Schnabl, Gunther, 2018. "70 years after the German currency and economic reform: The monetary, economic and political order in Europe is disturbed," Working Papers 156, University of Leipzig, Faculty of Economics and Management Science.
    4. Gunther Schnabl, 2024. "Seventy‐five years West German currency reform: Crisis as catalyst for the erosion of the market order," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(1), pages 77-96, February.
    5. Carsten Hefeker, 2021. "Stable money and central bank independence: implementing monetary institutions in postwar Germany," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 287-308, March.
    6. David Chambers & Carsten Burhop & Brian Cheffins, 2016. "The Rise and Fall of the German Stock Market, 1870-1938," Working Papers 25, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge, revised 21 Sep 2016.
    7. Hüther, M., 2007. "Gute Regierungsarbeit und Bürokratieabbau aus gesamtwirtschaftlicher Sicht," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 42, March.

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