Wolfgang Stützel

Wolfgang Stützel
Born (1925-01-23)23 January 1925
Aalen, West Germany
Died 1 March 1987(1987-03-01) (aged 62)
Saarbrücken, West Germany
Nationality Germany
Institution 1945–52 University of Tübingen
1952–53 London School of Economics
1953–56 Berliner Bank
1957–58 German Federal Bank
1958–87 Saarland University
1966–68 German Council of Economic Experts
Field Economics, Monetary economics, Macroeconomics
Influences John Maynard Keynes
Influenced Peter Bofinger,
Heiner Flassbeck
Contributions Balances Mechanics of Economics,
Paradoxes of competition
Awards Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economics Journalism,
Honorary doctorate University of Tübingen,
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Wolfgang Stützel (born 23 January 1925 in Aalen, Germany; died 1 March 1987 in Saarbrücken, Germany) was a German economist and professor of economics at the Saarland University, Germany. From 1966 to 1968 he was member of the German Council of Economic Experts (German: Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung).

He coined the concept of Balances Mechanics of Economics (German: Volkswirtschaftliche Saldenmechanik).[1]

Among other things, balances mechanics enabled the theories of John Meynard Keynes, in which he argued that deficit spending is necessary, to be placed on a formal, structural arithmetric foundation. Stützel used balances mechanics to explain how revenue surpluses enforce corresponding expense surpluses, and how an economic breakdown results.

Life

Wolfgang Stützel was born in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. His father Hermann Stützel was a chemist, a master codebreaker in both war and peacetime, and ran a small pottery factory. His mother Frieda (Hennig) was from Wittenberg. He had three older siblings, a brother and two sisters. He was a talented musician and became a student of Elly Ney at the Salzburger Mozarteum in 1943.[2]

In the spring of 1945, after one and a half years in a radio operators squad, he escaped from captivity in Italy. He began to study Protestant theology and ancient languages in Tübingen, Germany, because only the theology faculty was still operational.

He began studying economics in 1947. He received his diploma in 1950, and a doctorate in 1952 for his thesis on The Relation of the Economy to the State (German: Verhältnis der Wirtschaft zum Staat).

After two years as an assistant to Prof. Brinkmann in Tübingen, he got a research stipend at the London School of Economics. From 1953-1956 he worked as vice head of the national economics department of the Berliner Bank. From 1957-1958 worked as a research associate and later a department head for publications and special functions at the German Bundesbank (German Federal Bank).[3]

In 1958, Stützel wrote about Balances Mechanics of Macroeconomic Relations (German: Saldenmechanik makroökonomischer Zusammenhänge). As a result, at age 33 he was appointed by Professor Herbert Giersch to be a professor at Saarbrücken. He focused on banking management and national economics with emphasis on money, currency and credit.

Stützel became a member of the German Council of Economic Experts (Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung) in February 1966, then resigned in September 1968 because he did not support the revaluation of the Deutsche Mark and his dissenting view was not accepted.[4]

In the 1970s, he became involved in the FDP, a small German liberal party, as a city councillor, parliamentary candidate, and member of several party boards on the national level.

He taught for almost thirty years as a professor at Saarland University, refusing several job offers at other universities.

In 1986, Stützel suffered a stroke from which he did not recover. He committed suicide in 1987. He left three adult children.

Awards

Memberships

Economic points of view

In his early years, Stützel adhered to Keynesian theories, as publisher of the papers by Wilhelm Lautenbach. After the development of his Balances Mechanics of Economocs (German: Volkswirtschaftliche Saldenmechanik), he adopted a critical approach against the prevailing doctrines of economics.[5]

In the 1970s, Stützel veered away more and more from Keynesian and demand-driven positions.[6] After the recession of 1973/74, caused by a policy of high interest rates, high unemployment had developed. Stützel viewed this as a structural rather than a cyclical problem, and advocated for cuts in the social sector and the reduction of job security protections. In his book Market Price and Human Dignity (German: Marktpreis und Menschenwürde, 1981) he argued for a conversion of the social state according to the views of economic liberalism in the Kronberger Kreis.[7]

In his book, he explains his thesis that "good social intentions“ can often have "evil social outcomes“ - for example, strong job protections or excessive tariffs would reduce the ability of employers to employ people at all. The obligation for employers to continue to pay salaries in the case of employee illness would decrease the chances of employment for healthy people. He spoke for a "market economy with system compliant social policy“ wherein the state's task is to ensure equal starting conditions and provide help to the weak, but where is little regulatory intervention in to the market economy.

He was already questioning the belief that a healthy market economy would continuously need economic growth in the 1960s.[8]

Fiscal and monetary policy

In 1968, as a member of the council of economic experts, Stützel refused to support the revaluation of the Deutsche Mark. The recession of 1967, triggered by the high interest rates set by the German Federal Bank, had strongly decreased inflation in Germany and thereby given a price advantage to German exports. As a dedicated opponent of the revaluation - he was already against the revaluation in 1961 - Stützel left the board in September 1968, in conflict with the majority of its board members.

Students and coworker

Works (selection)

References

  1. ↑ A summary of Stützel's work in English is available in Charlotte Bruun's 1995 Dissertation: Logical Structures and Algorithmic Behavior in A Credit Economy (online), Chapter 3: "The Logical Structure of a Monetary Economy", pp. 78–98 (online)
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Stützel: Moderne Konzepte für Finanzmärkte, Beschäftigung und Wirtschaftsverfassung. Tübingen 2001, Vorwort V.
  3. ↑ ZEIT, 11. April 1969: Der Ex-Weise aus dem Saarland
  4. ↑ Der Spiegel, 30. September 1968: Konjunktur/Sachverständigenrat: Keusche Natur
  5. ↑ Heiner Flassbeck: Gesamtwirtschaftliche Paradoxa und moderne Wirtschaftspolitik (PDF, 15 p.; 143 kB), Einführung, p. 1.
  6. ↑ Peter Bofinger: Wolfgang Stützel
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Stützel: Marktpreis und Menschenwürde. Thesen zur Wirtschafts- und Bildungspolitik. Stuttgart 1981, p. 37:
    „Indem ich mich für eine Marktwirtschaft mit systemkonformer Sozialpolitik einsetze, setze ich mich nicht für einen Abbau ... des Systems sozialer Leistungen ein, wohl aber für dessen Umbau, und zwar für einen Umbau in eine Richtung, die nach allen dargelegten schlechten Erfahrungen der letzten Jahrzehnte darauf hinausläuft, dass das sozial Erstrebte unter geringerer Vergeudung volkswirtschaftlicher Ressourcen auch tatsächlich erreicht und gehalten werden kann.“
  8. ↑ Saarbrücker Zeitung, 4 March 1987: Nachruf für Wolfgang Stützel, verfasst von Prof. Johannes Welcker.

This article is a translated version of the German Wikipedia article.

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