The Future of German Finance

Abstract

The unconditional surrender of Germany has brought the end of the Nazi military machine. In the socio-economic sense, however, it has marked the mere beginning of a lengthy and intricate process of wiping out the vestiges of a totalitarian militarism whose hold upon the German nation had been practically unchallenged over a period of twelve years. If one important aspect-the financial-of economic policies in post-Hitler Germany is singled out in the discussion which follows, then the purpose is certainly not to minimize the importance of other policies in and toward that country. Reparations settlement, industrial disarmament, territorial adjustments and, last but not least, the economic destruction of the Junkers and monopolistic industrial combines are all of equal or greater importance. Likewise, the discussion of financial and other controls over present-day Germany should not arouse the impression that that nation is considered hopelessly and irrevocably imbued with the spirit of evil while all the others have been free of any guilt. Theories of immutable racial traits in black or white should remain the sad privilege of Nazism, and it is the underlying assumption of this whole discussion that social controls and adjustments of a suitable type may result at some future date in a lasting success of peace-minded forces. For the time being, however, the effect of the Nazi poison appears to be far-reaching, especially in dulling the sense of responsibility in the average German. The Western Allies, on their part, have at first concentrated their efforts on technical aspects of control without always realizing the basic necessity of wiping out inexorably all vestiges of Nazism and other forms of militarism, while encouraging consciously whatever traces of democratic and peaceful sentiments can be found in Germany. These general considerations apply to financial policy as much as to other fields.