"How Bad Economies Recover Fast When Governments Get Out Of The Way"

[Grizzly Adams]

Одличан чланак, нажалост само на енглеском:

It can take years or decades for a bad economy to recover if government throws enough obstacles in the way, like high taxes, costly regulations and class warfare against “millionaires and billionaires.” But a turnaround can begin within hours when government gets out of the way.

That’s what happened in West Germany. The Nazis had established a regime with totalitarian control of the economy, and for four years after World War II the Allied occupation authorities continued to enforce Nazi economic regulations. “When I got out of the airport bus in Frankfurt,” recalled the American journalist William Henry Chamberlin, “A crowd of barefooted boys clamored for a chance to carry my bags to the hotel, where they expected compensation not in paper marks, virtually worthless at the time, but in the universal substitute currency – cigarettes. Such scenes suggested some poverty-stricken Asiatic country, not Western Europe.”

Ludwig Erhard, an economist who had participated in the anti-Nazi underground, repeatedly urged the Allies to phase out the controls, and eventually he prevailed. The Allied Occupation authorities appointed him director of economic policy. On Sunday evening, June 20, 1948, Erhard went on the radio and announced that the almost worthless Reichsmark would be replaced by a new currency, the Deutschmark. People would receive one Deutschmark for every 20 Reichsmarks they handed in. Exchange controls would be abolished, since these aimed to maintain currency at above-market exchange rates, discouraging foreigners from accepting it as payment and thereby making lawful trade impossible.

A new currency, however, wouldn’t buy anything as long as chronic shortages persisted, so Erhard announced that price controls and rationing regulations would be abolished. Price controls simultaneously (1) discourage suppliers from providing more goods and (2) encourage consumers to line up for whatever might be available, which is why such controls cause shortages. U.S. commander Gen. Lucius Clay reportedly warned Erhard, “My advisers tell me you’re making a terrible mistake.” Erhard said, “Don’t listen to them, General. My advisers tell me the same thing.”

Within hours after Erhard’s announcement, goods that had been reserved for black market deals began to reappear on long‑empty store shelves. During the 1950s, West Germany’s industrial production soared 225 percent. West Germany became a leading exporter. Overall, West Germany turned in the best economic performance of any developed country during this period. West Germany charged through the 1970s without the stagflation that afflicted the United States and other countries.

...

http://www.forbes.co...out-of-the-way/

Аутоматски превод, ако нешто значи:

http://translate.goo...t-of-the-way%2F