Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (1897–1977) was a German economist and Christian Democratic statesman celebrated as the architect of post-World War II West Germany's 'Economic Miracle' (Wirtschaftswunder). Severely wounded as an artilleryman in World War I, Erhard studied economics under Wilhelm Vershofen and Franz Oppenheimer at Frankfurt, refusing to join Nazi organizations and drafting post-war economic reconstruction plans in secret.

As Director of Economics for the Bizone in June 1948, Erhard took the audacious decision to abolish rationing and price controls on the very Sunday the Deutsche Mark was introduced, without Allied permission. Serving as Minister of Economics under Konrad Adenauer from 1949 to 1963 and as Chancellor from 1963 to 1966, he implemented the Soziale Marktwirtschaft (Social Market Economy), proving that free market competition combined with a strong social safety net could produce unprecedented mass prosperity ('Prosperity for All').