Page 82 - The Making of the German Post-war Economy

THE COLOGNE SCHOOL 55

and Ludwig Erhard was even a charter member of the influential lobbying
union comprised of industrialists, self-employed professionals, journalists,
bureaucrats and politicians which attempted to influence the economic
reconstruction of post-war Germany. Thus, via the proposals and
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petitions sent by the WipoG to the parliament, i.e. the Economic Council,
Erhard not only lobbied politically for his economic programme but also
acted on his own administration. Furthermore, the WipoG served as a
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platform to perform preparatory promotion and anchor the conception of
the Social Market Economy in the wider public. Therefore, the
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association hosted numerous conferences, published newspaper articles
and even edited specific newsletters and information bulletins, such as the
Beratungsbriefe or the Rundschreiben. The professional organisation and
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distribution of these promotional documents was managed by the
Wirtschaftsberichte GmbH (Economic Reports Ltd.) founded by Mueller,
Klepper, Petersen and Erhard on 5 December 1947.
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In this environment, the first consideration of a national liberal
newspaper took place. Especially Ludwig Erhard desired to give the
WipoG and his conception a broader platform by which to reach the
general public. Furthermore, in order to confront the media opposed to
his socio-economic concept and policy, he inspired friendly industrialists
and journalists to establish an independent but market-oriented liberal
newspaper. The WipoG was to provide the essential contacts and
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financial funds for this endeavour. On 11 August 1949, around forty
entrepreneurs met in Kornwestheim and made 51 per cent of the seed
capital available to establish a German national liberal quality newspaper.
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The other 49 per cent of the share capital were provided by the Mainzer
Zeitungsverlags-GmbH. Erich Welter, a member of the WipoG and
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journalist at the Allgemeine Zeitung (AZ) in Mainz, acted as a facilitator. It
was the editor’s ambition to revive the former liberal daily Frankfurter
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Zeitung, which was closed by the National Socialists in 1943. When the
obligatory licensing by the Allied authorities was abolished in September
1949, the appearance of the first national daily newspaper in post-war
West Germany was enabled, and, finally, on 1 November 1949, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung appeared. Its first issue contained a clear
commitment to quality and independence. However, the eminently
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respectable newspaper could not disengage from its investors and
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founders. Next to the industrialists, who favoured a market-oriented
economy, the editor of the FAZ and devotee of Walter Eucken’s ordo-
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liberalism, Erich Welter, influenced the orientation of the liberal-
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conservative newspaper. In turn, the FAZ, in which Leonhard Miksch and
Alexander Rüstow also published articles, not only prepared the grounds
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for neo-liberal thinking but also became one of the most important organs