Description:  In the first English-language biography of one of the most important figures in post-war German history, Alfred Mierzejewski examines the life and service of Ludwig Erhard (1897-1977), West Germany's first minister of economics and its second chancellor. Erhard liberalized the German economy in 1948 and is generally considered the father of West Germany's "economic miracle"--a period of extraordinary growth in jobs and salaries in the 1950s that helped stabilize Germany's first successful democracy.

While recent scholarship has dismissed Erhard's influence on Germany's economic recovery, Mierzejewski returns to little-cited German analyses and Erhard's own record and concludes that Allied currency reform and Erhard's liberalization of the economy were crucial triggers for Germany's unprecedented economic boom. In addition to his evaluation of Erhard’s major policies, Mierzejewski also details the less well known aspects of Erhard's leadership, such as his struggle against cartels and the Common Market, his effort to arrest the growth of the welfare state, his battle for free trade, and his consistent effort to cut taxes.

Mierzejewski gives insight into Erhard's policies, his ideas, his character, and his relationships with Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle. By offering a fresh account of Erhard’s career as a leader in postwar West Germany, Mierzejewski contributes to a deeper understanding of the history of Germany’s economy as well as its democracy.

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ISBN# 0807828637