The German Economic “Miracle”: Ludwig Erhard
The free marketeer Ludwig Erhard was the architect behind Germany’s spectacular economic recovery after the devastation of World War II.
Following World War II, Germany’s economy was in ruins and was made even worse by ongoing price controls implemented by the state. Ludwig Erhard, an economist from a humble background, immediately abolished all price controls when elected director of economics in occupied Germany. The result is what economists and historians call an economic miracle, but what Erhard himself believed was the natural result of an economy freed from bureaucracy and state intervention.