Wilhelm Röpke ( German: Wilhelm Röpke ; October 10, 1899 , Schwarmstedt - February 12, 1966 , Geneva ) is a German and Swiss economist . President of the society "Mon Pelerin" (1961-1962).
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| Scientific field | economy |
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Biography
Born in the family of a rural doctor. From 1917 he studied legal disciplines and economics at the universities of Göttingen, Tübingen and Marburg. In 1921 he defended his doctoral dissertation, and in 1922 he successfully completed the doctorate habilitation procedure at the University of Marburg. In 1922 he received a professorship at the University of Jena , becoming the youngest professor in Germany. In 1922 in Germany and in 1927 in Moscow, in a translation into Russian, his monograph “Market conditions” was published [5] . In 1930-1932 he was in the public service.
After the Nazis came to power, he was deprived of the right to teach in Germany and since 1933 was in exile in Turkey, where he headed the Department of Theory of National Economy of Istanbul University . In 1937 he moved to Switzerland, where until the end of his life he worked at the Geneva Institute of International Studies [6] .
Representative of German Keynesianism
In the early 1930s, he was a supporter of state regulation of the economy. In the book "Crisis and conjuncture" ("Krise und Konjunktur", 1932) he anticipated some of the scientific discoveries of J. M. Keynes . The peculiarity of the approach of Röpke and the German economists W. Lautenbach and H. Neisser to the study of depression was that they distinguished two of its types: primary and secondary depression. During the upward phase of the cycle, excess capital accumulates in the economy. To return the economy to its normal state, a “cleansing" process is needed to reduce this excess. Primary depression is such a process; therefore, it is not necessary to deal with it by the methods of state macroeconomic policy.
Secondary depression is the development of primary depression into a cumulative process of reducing production and lowering prices , independent of the initial causes of primary depression, and can result in catastrophic economic and social consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to fight it with the help of macroeconomic policies of the state. At the same time, monetary policy is ineffective, Ryopke argued, because he is not able to counteract the influence of expectations on investments. A fiscal policy is needed, primarily in the form of public works funded by money emission. A weak link in the teachings of the German Keynesians is the lack of precise criteria to distinguish between primary and secondary depression [7] .
Theorist of a Social Market Economy
In the late 1930s, he moved to the position of neoliberalism , made an important contribution to the theory of social market economy .
Disappointed with the possibilities of capitalism and opposing totalitarianism in a national socialist or communist guise, in his book The Social Crisis of Modernity (1942) he formulated a provision on the “third way” of social and economic development, criticizing both capitalism and socialism. Defending the idea of a competitive economic order, Röpke opposed not only monopolization, but also large enterprises as such, and denied the expediency of any collectivist forms in the economy. The core of his views, reinforced not only by scientific arguments, but also by religious and philosophical convictions, was the individual's priority over the collective and the state.
Over the two post-war decades, he criticized Keynesian “fiscal socialism”, emphasizing that the use of Keynesian methods is fraught with rampant inflation and a crisis in public finances.
An important role was played by a report prepared in 1950 on behalf of K. Adenauer , who wanted an expert opinion on the chosen economic course, in which Röpke gave a positive assessment of the policy pursued by the Minister of Economy L. Erhard .
Political Opinions
Adhered to radical anti-communist views, which to a large extent determined his support for the right, military, dictatorial regimes in Latin America, public support for the apartheid regime in South Africa [8] .
Hayek score
Röpke very early — perhaps earlier than other contemporaries — realized that an economist who is just an economist cannot be a good economist. ...
Few scholars are fortunate enough to gain influence, similar to Röpke’s influence, outside of a narrow circle of colleagues. Since such an influence is too often achieved at the cost of unworthy simplification, it should be emphasized that he never avoided intellectual difficulties. His works, even designed for a wide audience, remained interesting for professionals.
- Friedrich Hayek [9]
Bibliography
- Röpke V. Market conditions. - M., Finizdat, 1927.
- Krise und Konjunktur. Leipzig 1932. (“Crisis and conjuncture”)
- Die Gesellschaftskrisis der Gegenwart. Rentsch, Erlenbach ZH 1942. (Haupt, Bern 1979, ISBN 3-528-02870-2 ) ("The social crisis of our time")
- Civitas Humana. Grundfragen der Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsreform. Zürich 1944. (Haupt, Bern 1979, ISBN 3-258-02871-0 ) (The Humanist Society)
- Jenseits von Angebot und Nachfrage. 1958. (Verlagsanstalt des Handwerks, Düsseldorf 2009, ISBN 978-3-86950-036-2 ) (“Beyond Supply and Demand”)
- Röpke V. Fundamental questions of economic order // Theory of economic order. Freiburg School and German Neoliberalism. Ed. V.P. Gutnika. - M .: Economics, 2002.
Notes
- ↑ German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 118601989 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ 1 2 Committee of Historical and Scientific Works - 1834.
- ↑ 1 2 Babelio
- ↑ 1 2 3 Röpke Wilhelm // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [30 p.] / Ed. A. M. Prokhorov - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1969.
- ↑ Klinov V.G. Economic conditions. Factors and mechanisms of formation - M .: Economics, 2005.
- ↑ Röpke Wilhelm // Great Soviet Encyclopedia . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. - (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978).
- ↑ Rozmainsky I., Kholodilin K. History of economic analysis in the West. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University, 2000.
- ↑ Jean Solchany. Better Dead Than Red: Wilhelm Röpke, a Neoliberal Anti-Communist on All Fronts // Transnational Anti-Communism and the Cold War. - Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014 .-- P. 218–232 . - ISBN 9781349482146 , 9781137388803. - DOI : 10.1057 / 9781137388803_15 .
- ↑ Tribute to Ryopke. Page 231–236 // Hayek F. The Fates of Liberalism in the 20th Century - M .: IRISEN, Thought ; Chelyabinsk : Socium, 2009.
Literature
- Gutnik V.P. Theoretical substantiation of economic policy and its basic principles // Social market economy: concept, practical experience and prospects of application in Russia / Ed. R. M. Nureyev . - M.: Publishing House of the Higher School of Economics, 2007. - S. 69–97.
- Nevsky S. I. Socio-economic reforms in post-war West Germany: 1945–1949 - M .: TEIS, 2008. - P. 11–49.
Links
- Wilhelm-Röpke-Institute Website of the Wilhelm Röpke Institute (Erfurt, Germany)