ABSTRACT
Population change is a key variable for all social, economic and political processes which is vital for social planning of any kind, from education to welfare systems, and from housing to pensions schemes. Politicians among others have to cope with the financial effects of uneven population growth and to secure political stability in the face of dynamic demographic changes such as mass migration. In 1945–1947 the influx of millions of refugees and expellees was by no means welcomed by a resident West German population struggling for survival, for it obviously aggravated all the problems of the post-war chaos. The most important factor in surmounting the difficulties outlined so far was the Federal Republic of Germany economic dynamism which more than tripled industrial output between 1950 and 1965 and completely absorbed the population surplus into the labour market before 1960. Financially, the Lastenausgleich constituted one of the largest transfer operations in German history.
