Considerations on currency reform in Germany after World War II

Judyta Przyluska-Schmitt (), Dorota Jegorow () and Tamás Szigetvári ()

Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, 2024, vol. 44, issue 4, 802-812

Abstract: This article is theoretical and presents the currency reform of June 20, 1948,which laid the basis for the reconstruction and rebirth of the West German economy afterWorld War II. The authors analyze the conditions related to the need to carry out the reform,emphasizing the role and interests of the United States in this undertaking. It is widely believed that the reform gave rise to impressive economic growth, the so-called “economic miracle”that no one could have predicted before. A closer analysis, however, shows that the initialaim was not to pave the way for an economic miracle, but it was rather a meticulouslyprepared plan of action by the American superpower to strengthen its position in the worldand limit the influence of the socialist idea. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the hypothesisthat the currency reform in post-WWII Germany was primarily aimed at securing Americandominance and limiting Soviet influence. JEL Classification: P16; E42; E52.

Keywords: Currency reform; political economy; monetary policy; Germany; World War II (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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