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A good part of what survived was later dismantled and carried off by the victorous ) ` m i ` Allies. Within Germany there was much argument about how to rebuild the economy. x i s x Socialist politicians argued for a central government system with extensive state control. � s i � They also wanted to nationalize the banks and industries. Their main opponent was : � i m � Lugwig Erhard, a liberal economist appointed to head the office of economic affairs. % � m p � Erhard's concept of a socially responsive market economy based on free trade and private � p q � enterprise. This would be incorporated with the Marshall plan, and proved to be the right � q ﷓ � idea. q Germans label their economy a " soziale Marktwirtschaft" social market q o economy, to show the system as it has developed after World War Š, has both a material 8 o n 8 and a social dimension. They stress the importance of the term " Market" because after P n n P the Nazi experience they wanted an economy free of state intervention . The only state h n k h role in the new West German economy was to protect the competitive environment from € k q € monopolistic or oligopolistic tendencies including its own. The term "Social" is stressed ˜ q l ˜ because West Germans wanted an economy that would not only help the wealthy but also � l j � care for the workers and other who might not prove able to cope with the strenuous 8 � j i � competitive demands of a market economy. The term "social" was chosen rather than ( � i r � "socialist" to distinguish" their system from those in which the state claims the right to � r * � direct the economy. p The economic reforms and the new West German system received powerful ( p i ( support from a number of sources. Largest was the Marshall plan, an United States : @ i o @ program of financial assistance that helped to rebuild West Europe. After World War II X o k X all of Europe was devastated and needed help. The West German boom began in 1950. " p k k p The growth rate of the industrial production was 25.0% in 1950 and 18.1% in 1951" ( ! ˆ k $ ˆ # $ r ���o��� Keesing pg 5 ) It continued at a high rate through 1950s. By 1960 industrial J r n production had reason to twice the amount of the 1950s. This was far beyond even what 0 n l 0 Nazis had done in the 1930s, in all of Germany. The number of persons employed rose H l l H from 13.8 million in the 1950s to 19.8 million in the 1960s. Unemployment went down ` l j ` from 10.3% to 1.2%. Labor also benefited from the boom. Although wage demands and x j k x pay increases had been slow at first. Wages and salaries rose 80% between 1949 and & � k k � 1955. In 1957 West Germany gained a new central bank , the Deutshe Bundesbank. This � k f � bank replaced the old Deutscher Lander and was given much more authority over F � f k � monetary policy. The Bundeskartellamt was establish to prevent the return of German % � k q � monopolies and cartels. The economy did not grow as fast in the 1960s. There was a stop � q V � in labor from East Germany by the building of the Berlin wall. l In East Germany or the German Democratic Republic ( GDR) economic l l control was absolute under the Communist Party. Patterned after the Soviet model GDR 8 l n 8 economy was state controlled and a centralized planned production. Beginning in 1945, P n l P large tracts of land and factories were taken over by the state. They started reform ? h l n h programs for agriculture and industry. In 1949 GDR became a member of the council for € n f € mutual economic assistance ( COMECON). This program included all of the Soviet 8 ˜ f t ˜ satellite states, and had been created in order to coordinate economic planning in socialist � t p � states worldwide.They had to offer some sort of financial help, because the U.S Marshall � p p � plan was offered to all of Europe. But the Soviet ruled state turned the help down. The � p s � Soviets had another idea called the five year plan. The concept of the a five year plan was � s m � introduced in the 1951 . It was intended to make up war losses and also make possible m k reparations payment to the Soviet Union. This was the purpose of heavy industry and ) ( k k ( build up on a large scale. But these production goals could not be met. Because of 7 @ k p @ continous shortage of material. So the Soviets tried a second five year plan in 1956." X p i X The plan was aimed to complete the nationalization of all industrial concerns and J p i s p collectivization of agriculture enterprises." (Keesing pg 6 ) By 1960s the Kombinate ˆ s $ ˆ � � $ r in��st�� ( collective farming) accounted for 90% of all farm production. Not to say it was B r p succussful, private farmers who resisted was arrested. Their were even public executions 0 p p 0 in the Ukraine When production began to decline in the early 1960s. It became evident to H p j H East Germany that their " Planned Ecomony" had lost the economic battle with the 1 ` j ' ` capitalist West. p x With the collapse of the Communism across Eastern Europe in 1989, East � p l � Germany quickly felt the impact. The Berlin wall which stood since Aug 13 , 1961 was � l k � torn down in Dec of 1989. Almost a year later on Oct 23, 1990 East and West Germany � k g � was unified once again. The capital was moved from Bonn back to Berlin, and Dr * � g k � Richard von Weizsacker was elected President with Dr Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. In � k k � 1991 Chancellor Kohl's new cabinet announced a 7.5% surcharge on income taxes which k p also increased the price of tobacco and oil. This was done to raise 46 billion DM to p j develop the east and fund increasing unemployment benefits. In Dec 1991 Germany ! 8 j i 8 agreed with the rest of Europe, that they needed to form a more unified economic * P i o P monetary union. Also in 1991 Germany contributed 5.5 billion dollars towards the United h o l h States cost in the Gulf War. It was unable to send troops outside of the NATO areas. ' € l p € Germany was criticized by Italy and England for its high interests rates in there banks. ˜ p k ˜ The interest rate lead to their own domestic economic problems. This problem forced & � k p � them to pull out of the Euro exchange rate. In 1993 currency debates developed over the � p i � battle between the government and the Bundesbank. This led to the widening of the 7 � i @ � European exchange rate from 2.5% to 15%. r � German economic success in the postwar period had been a model for other r s nations to follow. It has done this with their high wages, banking, and a generous welfare ( s s ( state. Germany has played a leadership role in European integration, especially since the @ s k @ creation of the European Monetary System (EMS). Although the European Union is now X k h X doubting whether Germany can continue to remain generous, to Europe and its own 2 p h m p citizens. I think the country that helped Europe adopt the euro and became a unified * ˆ m $ ˆ 5 !� $ y �������� monetary. Will continue to thrive and become the industrial power of Europe well into the y # 21st century. g 0 Ge�� � M "„ x x ������������������������������������������������������������ M� f H Main Trading Partners: European Union, Switzerland, Japan and the United States. h ` Main Primary Products: Antimony, Arsenic, Barley, Coal, Cobalt, fish, Fruits and ? l h d l Vegetables, Wine, Iron, Lignite, Livestock, Oats and Grains, Oil, Natural Gas. f „ Main Industries: Aircraft, Agriculture, Cement, Chemicals, Ceramics, Computer, H � f p � Electrical and Electronics Equipment, Food Processing, Forestry and Fish, Glass , Iron, œ p h œ Steel, Machinery, Mining, Motor vehicles, Non Ferrous metals, Opitcal Equipment, 2 � h L � Petroleum products, Railway equipment, Textile tools. m � Main Exports: Chemicals, Foods Instruments, Iron and Steel, Lignite, Machinery, Motor � m ` � Vehicles, Potash, Railway Equipment, Textiles, Yarns and Fabrics.� � `� Bibliography: I can't find it Word Count: 1663
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