Wilhelm Röpke

Wilhelm Röpke.

Wilhelm Röpke (October 10, 1899 in Schwarmstedt – February 12, 1966 in Geneva) was Professor of Economics, first in Jena, then in Graz, Marburg, Istanbul and finally in Geneva, and the main spiritual father of the German social market economy, theorising and collaborating to organise the post-World War II economic re-awakening of the then destroyed German economy, deploying a program which sometimes is now referred to as the Soziologischer Liberalismus. Röpke & company (Walter Eucken, Franz Böhm, Alfred Müller-Armack and Alexander Rüstow) elucidated the ideas about Soziologischer Liberalismus (a sociologically inclined variant of Ordoliberalism), which then were introduced formally by Germany's post-World War II Minister for Economics Ludwig Erhard, operating under Konrad Adenauer's Chancellorship. Röpke and co.'s economic influence therefore is widely considered largely responsible for promoting Germany's post-World War II Economic "Miracle", so called. Röpke was also an historian.

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Work

In his youth Röpke was first inspired by socialism and afterwards by the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Despite this, the post-World War II economic liberation enabling Germany to once again lead Europe, which Röpke and his allies (Walter Eucken, Franz Böhm, Alfred Müller-Armack and Alexander Rüstow) were the intellectual muscle behind, occurred by implementing policy divergent to that advocated by Ludwig Von Mises. Though the two men shared some beliefs in certain areas, Röpke & co. instead formed the school of Ordoliberalism, to advocate free trade but with more Central Bank and State influence than what Austrian School economists suggest is required. Unlike many mainstream Austrian School economists, Röpke and the Ordoliberalists conceded that the Market Economy can be more disruptive and inhumane unless Central Bank and State intervention is permitted a role to play. Following Alexander Rüstow, Röpke concluded that free markets' vaunted efficiency and affluence can exact social and spiritual forfeits. In consequence, he envisioned a positive and more extensive role for the state, as rule-maker, enforcer of competition, and provider of basic social security. In spite of this, however, Röpke remained a political decentralist that rejected Keynesian economics, deriding it as "a typically intellectual construction that forgets the social reality behind the integral calculus".

For Röpke, rights and moral habits (Sitte) were key elements which the Central Bank and State (opposed to the Market-Economy) needed to subtly help organise. With a "conforming" social, economic, and financial policy, the task of which is to protect the weak "beyond the market," to equalize interests, set rules of the game, and limit market power, Röpke strove for an economic order of "economic humanism," something which he also referred to as the "Third Way." Röpke stood for a society and social policy in which human rights are given the highest importance. He believed that individualism must be balanced by a well-thought-out principle of sociality and humanity. Significantly, Röpke's economic thought is highly congruent with Catholic social teaching. As he grew older, Röpke increasingly appreciated the overall, general benefits of a society that embraces spirituality, particularly in contrast to societies where spirituality is marginalized or demonized.

Influence

In particular, from 1930-31 Röpke served on a government commission examining unemployment, and from 1947-48 on Germany's post-World War II currency reform council. Furthermore, Röpke personally advised the Chancellor of (post-World War II) West Germany, Konrad Adenauer, and his Minister of Economics, Ludwig Erhard up until the late 1950s, and therefore is credited with contributing the intellectual backbone of the now infamous German Economic "Miracle".

Occupying West Germany following the conclusion of World War II, the 'Western Allies' (America & Britain) had continued to implement an economic policy of rationing, wage and price controls, coupled with continued excessive printing of paper money. Production then consequently collapsed and prominent businessmen once again became unwilling to accept the (relatively) worthless currency, triggering widespread shortages and the mainstreaming of a grey-market barter economy in substitute. Röpke’s The Solution to the German Problem (1947) illuminated the negatives of the Western Allies' continuing of Hitler's economic policies. Instead, Ropke diagnosed abolishing price controls and replacing the reichsmark with a sound, more trustworthy currency. Accordingly, price and wage controls were then incrementally abolished and on June 21, 1948, the new Deutsche Mark begun to formally circulate. These long-range policy initiatives, however, spawned some civil unrest immediately following their implementation by increasing unemployment. Despite these disturbances and stoically supported by Ropke’s learned newspaper writings, the Minister of Economics Ludwig Erhard persevered with foresight, and this eventually amounted to “a great personal vindication for Röpke” - Röpke and his allies had “made West Germany immune to communism.”

He was president of the Mont Pelerin Society from 1961-1962. But as a result of a longer quarrel with Friedrich August von Hayek he stepped down and quit his membership in the Mont Pelerin Society.

Online works

• Crises and Cycles (1936)
• International Economic Disintegration (1942)
• The German Question (1946)
• The Social Crisis of Our Time (1950)
• International Order and Economic Integration (1959)
• A Humane Economy: The Social Framework of the Free Market (1960)
• Economics of the Free Society (1963)
• Against the Tide (1969); posthumous essay collection
• Two Essays by Wilhelm Roepke (1987)

See also

• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism
• Ordoliberalism
• Mont Pelerin Society

External links

• Wilhelm Röpke’s Political Economy by Samuel Gregg
• The Social Market Economy - U.S. Library of Congress
• "How Different Were Ropke and Mises?" by Ivan Pongracic
• A biography of Röpke - by Shawn Ritenour
• Wilhelm Röpke - Library Collections (including his entire correspondence in original) - Library of the Institute for Economic Policy, University of Cologne, Germany
• Wilhelm Röpke - Library Collections (German Page) - Library of the Institute for Economic Policy, University of Cologne, Germany
• "Wilhelm Röpke: A Centenary Appreciation" by Richard M. Ebeling ("The Freedom: Ideas on Liberty," October 1999)