Ludwig Erhard, whose biography will be considered later, is a well-known West German statesman. In the years 1963-66. he was 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 Evangelical. Secondary education Ludwig Erhard received in Nuremberg and Furth. During World War I, he fought in artillery. In 1918, Erhard was wounded. Due to this injury, he was diagnosed with significant atrophy of his left arm. At the end of seven operations, he was declared unfit for physical labor. Ludwig Erhard and his family were engaged in small business. However, the wound was the main obstacle to continuing to work in the enterprise of his father.
University studies
At the Nuremberg Institute, Ludwig Erhard began to study economics. He continued his education at the University of Frankfurt. Remembering the students, Ludwig Erhard said that during this period he felt extremely lonely. In order not to forget how his voice sounds, he went to the park, where he talked aloud to himself. Studying at the University of Frankfurt, Erhard noted the very poor quality of teaching. In this regard, he turned to the dean’s office, where he was advised to meet Franz Oppenheimer. He went to this man. From the moment they met, 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 start of the Great Depression, Ludwig Erhard began to study independently. After some time, he became deputy director of the Institute for Market Research in Nuremberg. In 1942, disagreements with the Nazis forced him to leave the institution. The following year, Ludwig Erhard becomes the head of a small research center. It was created under the "imperial industry group." The focus of the center was on the development of economic reforms, the need for which was expected after the fall of the Nazi regime.
State activity
Since September 1945, Ludwig Erhard served as Minister of State for the Economy of Bavaria. He then served as head of a special department dealing with money and credit in Bison. In May 1948, Erhard became director of the Economic Administration. Back in 1946, he began to talk about the need for reforms in the economic sphere. Reforms of Ludwig Erhard were announced on June 18-20, 1948. At the same time, the statesman carried out personal work on liberalization in the German economic sector. According to the American model, a stable currency was introduced instead of the Reichsmarks. At the same time, Erhard canceled centralized pricing and state planning for most of the products. So the country's enterprises received freedom of action. Despite the fierce resistance of the Social Democrats, Erhard continued to maintain a liberal position, advocated for financial stability.
Work in the government of Germany
After the formation of the country, Erhard became Minister of Economics 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 German industry rose 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 capture the foreign market and oust other manufacturers from it. If the industry of the state at that time was 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 hype. A dispute arose between then Chancellor Adenauer and the Minister for Economic Development. The conflict took on a fairly wide scale, going beyond the narrow party leadership. The concessions made by Erhard allowed to gain time. After that, the war itself began to work for Germany. A stable economy with affordable labor at its cost began to fill the market space that needed products with goods of its own production. Due to low taxes, the German GDP growth rate in the mid-20th century reached the highest level among all developed countries that existed then, while the level of price increase was the lowest. Following the transformations in the economic sector, housing reform began.
Ludwig Erhard: retirement
In the course of his work, the statesman completely abandoned the manipulations with state regulation, which were very popular in the East and 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 sharp disagreement under the cover provided by Adenauer, was absolutely unsuitable in order to become the main focus of the new era. In 1966, under pressure from his associates, he was forced to resign. Until his very last days, Erhard remained the oldest deputy in the Bundestag.
Historical role
The economic miracle of Ludwig Erhard made him a famous statesman of his era. He was forced to work in an environment where government intervention in the business sector was more than real. He was well aware that in an era of great influence of socialist ideas, it is necessary to use a wide range of measures to ensure social protection of the population. However, the key direction that the concept of Ludwig Erhard developed was the preservation of financial stability and economic freedom. Inflation and centralism were its main enemies. Erhard wanted to minimize any manifestations of statism.
Along with this, he did not seek to fight the force of resistance. He believed that it would be wiser to put her on her 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 social security.
Conclusion
Erhard always tried to explain to the population the specifics of the reforms that he carried out, rather than, as was customary in the 20th century, engage in demagogy. He was ready to persuade every single German citizen until he was ashamed that he did not support the efforts that the government was directing to maintain the stability of the currency. CSU leader Strauss recalled that as soon as it came to a market economy, Erhard overslept the speaker's talent. He carried away and infected his listeners with his enthusiasm. Erhard knew how to convince, he quickly disposed to himself and won the trust of supporters.