Biagi Bossone and Stefano Sylos Labini — Macroeconomics in Germany: The forgotten lesson of Hjalmar Schacht

Of historical interest. Hjalmar Schacht was Hitler's central bank chief. Schacht was the Marinner Eccles of Germany, serving in the same period and adopting similar stimulative policies.

Despite facing many of the same challenges, Germany’s current macroeconomic policy is substantially different to those of other countries, in part due to the economy legacy of Walter Eucken. This column considers the economic policy of Hjalmar Schacht, whose ‘MEFO-bills’ monetary solution ended the years of economic struggle caused by the Treaty of Versailles’ reparations commitments. By tying the bills to output, Schacht was able to stimulate output, and eliminate unemployment. This historical implication has clear modern-day implications, with parallels to ‘helicopter money’ policy and Italy’s recent ‘fiscal money’ proposal.

vox.eu
Macroeconomics in Germany: The forgotten lesson of Hjalmar Schacht

Biagi Bossone, Chairman, Group of Lecce; Member of the Surveillance Committee, Centre d'Études pour le Financement de Développement Local, and Stefano Sylos Labini, Researcher, ENEA