The Political Economy of West Germany, 1945–85

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Political Economy and the Development of State Theory

   • Jeremy Leaman

   Pages 1-8

3. The Political Economy of Germany, 1918–49 and the Formation of the West German State

   • Jeremy Leaman

   Pages 9-47

4. The ‘Economic Constitution’ of West Germany

   • Jeremy Leaman

   Pages 48-80

5. The Role of the State in the Expansion of the West German Economy, 1949–66

   • Jeremy Leaman

   Pages 81-171

6. State and Crisis Management, 1966–85

   • Jeremy Leaman

   Pages 172-262

7. State and Economy in Germany beyond the 1980s — ‘Model Germany’ or ‘A Colossus on Feet of Clay’?

   • Jeremy Leaman

   Pages 263-269

8. Back Matter

   Pages 270-287

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The post-war emergence of West Germany as the dominant economic power in Europe gave rise to the mythology of the 'economic miracle' and the model policies of the 'social market economy'. This study reveals a mundane reality of class politics in which democratic institutions have become increasingly marginalised by big capital and by an unelected central bank. Economic policy has failed to halt the recent slide into mass unemployment and has reverted optimistically to the plan-less export drives of the fifties. The absence of the earlier advantages, the author claims, bodes ill for the future of 'model Germany'.

• economic policy
• Export
• political economy
• unemployment

• Loughborough University, UK

  Jeremy Leaman

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