Ludwig Erhard: biography, photo, family, reforms. German economic miracle of Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Erhard, whose biography will be considered further on, is a well-known West German statesman. In the years 1963-66. He was the Federal Chancellor. From 1966 to 1967 he was chairman of the Christian Democratic Union.

Ludwig Erhard: Biography

His father was a Catholic, and his mother a Protestant evangelist. Secondary education Ludwig Erhard received in Nuremberg and Fürth. During the First World War he fought in the artillery. In 1918 Erhard was wounded. Because of this injury, he was diagnosed with a significant atrophy of the left arm. After the completion of seven operations, he was declared unfit for physical labor. Ludwig Erhard and his family engaged in small business. However, the wound became the main obstacle for the continuation of work at the enterprise of his father.

University training

At the Nuremberg Institute, Ludwig Erhard began to study economics. He continued his education at Frankfurt University. Recalling the students, Ludwig Erhard said that during this period he felt extremely lonely. To not forget how his voice sounds, he went to the park, where he spoke aloud to himself. Studying at the University in Frankfurt, Erhard noted the very low quality of teaching. In this regard, he turned to the dean's office, where he was advised to get acquainted with Franz Oppenheimer. He went to this man. From the moment of their acquaintance, Ludwig Erhard believed that Oppenheimer was one of the best German scientists who laid the foundation for a liberal worldview.

Self-education

Shortly before the Great Depression, Ludwig Erhard began to study independently. After some time, he took the post of deputy director of the Institute for Research of the conjuncture in Nuremberg. In 1942, disagreements with the Nazis forced him to leave the institution. Next year Ludwig Erhard becomes the head of a small research center. It was created under the "imperial group of industry." The focus in the center was on developing economic transformations, the need for which was expected after the fall of the Nazi regime.

Government Activities

Since September 1945, Ludwig Erhard served as state minister for the economy of Bavaria. Then he was in charge of the head of a special department dealing with money and loans in Bizonia. In May 1948, Erhard became director of the Economic Department. As early as in 1946, he began to talk about the need to carry out reforms in the economic sphere. The reforms of Ludwig Erhard were announced on June 18-20, 1948. At the same time, the statesman did his personal work on liberalization in the economic sector of Germany. According to the American model, a stable currency was introduced instead of the Reichsmark. At the same time Erhard abolished centralized pricing and state planning for most of the products. Thus, the enterprises of the country gained freedom of action. Despite the fierce resistance of the Social Democrats, Erhard continued to adhere to the liberal position, advocating financial stability.

Work in the government of Germany

After the formation of the country Erhard becomes Minister of Economy during the reign of Konrad Adenauer. He was also the successor to the latter as federal chancellor. After the Korean War, a "German miracle" happened. Ludwig Erhard, given the difficult situation in foreign trade, was forced to compromise and apply illiberal restrictions. The cost of raw materials imported by the German industry grew by an average of 67%. At the same time, the prices of goods exported from the country are only 17%. To ensure rapid economic growth, it was necessary to seize the foreign market and oust other producers from it. If the industry of the state at that time proved to be uncompetitive, this step would only worsen the state of the economic sector. A new global war was expected.

This gave rise to panic, and after it - consumer excitement. Between the then acting Chancellor Adenauer and the Minister for Economic Development, a dispute arose. The conflict took a broad enough scope, going beyond the narrow party management. The concessions to which Erhard went, were allowed to gain time. After that, war began to work on Germany. A stable economy with affordable labor began to fill the market space, which needed products, with goods of its own production. Due to low taxes, Germany's GDP growth rate in the middle of the 20th century reached the highest level among all developed countries at that time, while the level of price increases was the lowest. Following the transformation in the economic sector, the housing and construction reform began.

Ludwig Erhard: career completion

In the course of his work, the statesman completely refused to manipulate state regulation, which was very popular in the East and was quite actively used by his predecessors in Germany. Erhard strictly defined the country as a state of Western culture, a market economy. In 1963, Adenauer retired. Erhard became the new Chancellor of Germany. However, his straightforwardness, which worked perfectly during periods of acute disagreements under the cover provided by Adenauer, was absolutely not suitable for becoming the main direction of the new era. In 1966, under the pressure of his comrades-in-arms, he was forced to resign. Until very late Erhard remained in the Bundestag the oldest deputy.

Historical role

The economic miracle of Ludwig Erhard made him the most famous statesman of his era. He was forced to work in conditions when the interference of the authorities in the economic sector was more than real. He was well aware that in the era of great influence of socialist ideas it is necessary to use a wide range of measures to ensure the social protection of the population. However, the key direction, which developed the concept of Ludwig Erhard, was the preservation of financial stability and economic freedom. Inflation and centralism were his main enemies. Erhard wanted to minimize any manifestations of statism. Together with this, he did not seek to fight the power of resistance. He thought it would be wiser to put her on his side. This was the essence of the strategy, which became known as the social market economy. Priority was given to the market mechanism, but not to public security.

Conclusion

Erhard tried always to explain to the population as completely as possible the specifics of the reforms that he was carrying out, rather than, as was customary in the 20th century, to engage in demagoguery. He was prepared to persuade every single citizen of Germany until he was ashamed that he did not support the efforts that the government was sending to preserve the stability of the currency. The leader of the CSU, Strauss recalled that, as soon as it came to market economy, Erhard slept through the talent of the speaker. He carried away and infected his listeners with his enthusiasm. Erhard was able to convince, he quickly placed himself and won the confidence of supporters.