ABSTRACT
Choosing further reading for the study of the German economy is difficult for a number of reasons. Firsdy, economics is a highly contested area of intellectual debate; secondly, economics is arguably the most abstract of the social sciences, frequently employing advanced mathematical techniques in analysis and prescription as well as traditional evaluative discourse. Thirdly, economics writing in German is often syntactically complex and inaccessible. The joke about four economists in a room generating at least six different hypotheses on the same subject is not completely wide of the mark. Further reading must thus be understood as a source of a number of often contrasting perspectives rather than one ideologically predetermined standpoint, offering convenient certainties. The history of economics and economic policy in the twentieth century has witnessed significant changes in the theoretical preferences of opinion- and policy-makers within countries and among groups of countries. The historical experience of economists and economic policy-makers does colour their perceptions and their preferences. Readers should be alert, for example, to the differences between the approach of German and non-German authors to some of the subjects covered in this chapter, for example in relation to inflation. This is quite apart from the fundamental differences between Keynesian, neo-liberal, neo- marxist or eco-socialist authors.
