Statistics and the German State, 1900-1945: The Making of Modern Economic Knowledge

by J. Adam Tooze

Overview

Tooze provides an interpretation of the period of dramatic statistical innovation between 1900 and 1945. The Weimar Republic and the Third Reich were in the forefront of statistical innovation in the interwar decades. New ways of measuring the economy were inspired both by contemporary developments in macroeconomic theory and the needs of government. Under the Nazi regime, these statistical tools provided the basis for a radical experiment in economic planning. Based on the German example, Tooze argues for a more wide-ranging reconsideration of the history of modern economic knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521039123
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/16/2007
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Modern Economic History , #9
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Glossary and abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Official statistics and the crisis of the Wilhelmine state; 2. The Republic's new numbers, 1918–23; 3. Weimar's macroeconomic statistics, 1924–29; 4. The crisis of Weimar's statistical establishment, 1930–3; 5. Statistics and the 'Strong State', 1933–6; 6. The radicalization of the Nazi regime and the death of official statistics, 1936–9; 7. World War II and the return of macroeconomics; Conclusion; Appendix: Wagemann's national economic account - explanatory notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...Tooze's book succeeds in raising crucial issues on the relations among politics, knowledge, and technology, and it should stimulate future investigations on these issues and become a standard reference." American Historical Review

"The first half of this book, particularly, should be mandatory reading for everyone interested in the history of economic thought..." EH.NET

"This important and interesting book will be of great value not only to discussions of German political economy in the first half of the twentieth century but also to debates about economic knowledge and how it develops." Business Historical Review

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