This study was prepared by Beate Schirwitz while she was working at the Ifo Institute's Dresden Branch. It was completed in February 2012 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Faculty of Law, Management, and Economics at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in July 2012. It focuses on a...

This study was prepared by Beate Schirwitz while she was working at the Ifo Institute’s Dresden Branch. It was completed in February 2012 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Faculty of Law, Management, and Economics at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in July 2012. It focuses on a...

Introduction -- Shortages and strikes, 1945-1948 -- The era of "The treaty of Detroit," 1949-1950 -- No longer the arsenal of democracy, 1951-1952 -- A post-Korean War boom, 1953 -- A "painfully inconvenient" recession, 1954 -- The fifties in one year, 1955 -- "A severe and prolonged hangover,"...