Prosperity Through Competition
Prosperity Through Competition
PROSPERITY THROUGH COMPETITION
Title Page
by
LUDWIG ERHARD
Vice-Chancellor and Minister for
Economic Affairs of the German
Federal Republic
FREDERICK A. PRAEGER
New York
Copyright Page
The original German edition
WOHLSTAND FÜR ALLE
was prepared in collaboration with
Dr. Wolfram Langer and published by
Econ Verlag Düsseldorf
ENGLISH VERSION TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
Edith Temple Roberts and
John B. Wood
Books that matter
PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN I958 BY
FREDERICK A. PRAEGER, INC., PUBLISHERS, 15 WEST 47 STREET, NEW YORK 36, N.Y.
Key to Abbreviations
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
BDL |
— Bank Deutscher Länder (Central Bank) |
CDU |
— Christlich-demokratische Union (Christian Democrats) |
CSU |
— Christlich-soziale Union (Christian Socialists) |
DGB |
— Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (German Council of Trade Unions) |
DM |
— Deutschmark (after 1948) |
ECA |
Preface
PREFACE
THE PUBLICATION of an English-language edition of Wohlstand für Alle, which since its first appearance nine months ago has run through six editions, gives me a welcome opportunity to make a few prefatory remarks.
I. The Thread
Chapter I
THE THREAD
ON THE OCCASION of the C.D.U. meeting at Recklinghausen in the British zone at the end of August 1948, and some time before I took over the Ministry for Economic Affairs of the first West German Federal Republic, I outlined my attitude to the ideas which were then in the air about the distribution of incomes. I explained my refusal to allow them to take hold again, for I considered them to be false.
II. Birth of the Market Economy
Chapter II
BIRTH OF THE MARKET ECONOMY
WHAT WAS THE POSITION when I was elected director of economic administration of the bi-zonal economic area on March 2, 1948? Much later—on May 31, 1954, in Antwerp—I described the period before currency reform in the following way:
III. Overcoming the Korean Crisis
Chapter III
OVERCOMING THE KOREAN CRISIS
THE UNREST AND UNCERTAINTY which the Korean war brought in its train led to a considerable increase in demand. A slight hope that the consumer would react quietly proved false. On the other hand on the positive side it should be mentioned that since currency reform a great deal had been invested; though, lacking an adequate capital market, the greater part of these investments were too expensive. Here moral evaluation and sober economic judgment may differ.
IV. Harnessing the Boom
Chapter IV
HARNESSING THE BOOM
IN 1954 the transition to the next, the fifth chapter, of the young history of market economy, that is, the transition to the boom, was already clear to those looking into the future. The new task which presented itself was again not easy to solve. Above all it was a question of effectively countering the danger of an inflationary over-taxing of the boom.
