Eucken, W: Gesammelte Schriften Band III/1:

Walter Eucken (1891-1950) was one of the twentieth century's most important economists and the founder of ordoliberalism. The idea behind this new form of liberalism was that the state should ensure a strong regulatory framework for free and fair competition in the economy that powerful economic entities such as cartels and monopolies would not be able to undermine in their favour. The selected letters from the years 1907 to 1932 bring to light not only many previously unrecorded instances in Eucken's biography as well as important personal and academic relationships, but are also impressive evidence that his intellectual development was the result of both a thorough examination of the economic, philosophical and theological positions of his times and an ability to profoundly analyse topical economic policy problems. The concerns that arose in the timespan covered by this volume's letters included the crisis of ideological orientation following the First World War, socialisation efforts in the aftermath of the November Revolution, hyperinflation and currency reform at the end of 1923, the reparations problem, cartel and customs issues, lack of financial capital, and the acute socio-political challenges precipitated by the outbreak of the Great Depression 1929.