On the Discussion of the Economic Policy of Germany from Weimar to Hitler

Abstract

The article reviews the central themes of the discussion about economic policy of the Weimar Republic immediately before and during the worldwide economic crisis of the end of 1920s and the beginning of 1930s. The author uses for this purpose a collection of papers published as a Festschrift in honor of German economic historian Knut Borchardt. The article discusses such topics as the role of the German economic and in particular monetary policy in genesis and development of the crisis, anti-crisis policy options at the German government's disposal, impact of wages' rigidity and international monetary and economic relations on the economic situation in the period immediately preceding the establishment of the Nazi regime.