Felix Somary

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Felix Somary (born November 21, 1881 in Vienna , † July 11, 1956 in Zurich ) was an Austrian - Swiss bank manager, economist and political analyst.

Life

After studying law at the University of Vienna , together with Emil Lederer , Joseph Schumpeter and Otto Bauer , Somary joined the Anglo-Österreichische Bank in Vienna as financial secretary , but moved to Berlin in 1909. From 1910 to 1914 he was a professor at the local university for further education in political science. During the First World War, Somary served as an economic and political advisor to the Central Powers. Among other things, he emerged as a co-author of Max Weber 's memorandum, which warned of the political consequences of an intensified submarine war . At the end of the war, Somary took on confidential tasks such as the transfer of effects from the Vienna Rothschild house to neutral Switzerland. In 1919 he took over the management of the Blankart & Co. bank in Zurich.

Somary, a firm opponent of inflation and a staunch liberal who was opposed to Keynesianism , was considered one of the most profound analysts of political and economic developments of his time and was respected beyond party lines. Among other things, he analyzed the causes of the global economic crisis , which he had warned of early on. In a lecture at the University of Vienna , Somary pointed out the dangers of a European economy based on short-term US American loans. Somary worked as a visiting professor at Heidelberg University and at American universities. From 1941 to 1943 he was an advisor to the US Department of War on international finance. Carl Jacob Burckhardt described Felix Somary as a "political crisis specialist". Somary's banking policy is still considered a standard work today and was praised by Schumpeter in his History of Economic Analysis .

Fonts

  • Banking policy. Tübingen 1915 (new editions 1930, 1934)
  • with Eugen von Philippovich : Outline of the political economy. 3 volumes. Tübingen 1920-23
  • Change in the world economy since the war. Tubingen 1929
  • The causes of the crisis. Tübingen 1932
  • Turnaround. Fischer Verlag 1932
  • End the crisis! A Plea for Action. New York 1933
  • "Present problems in Switzerland." Zurich 1937
  • Crisis and Future of Democracy. Europa Verlag, Zurich / Vienna / Constance 1952
  • Memories from my life. Manesse, Zurich 1955; 4th edition, ibid. 1963.
    • Memories of a political meteorologist. With a foreword by Wolfgang Somary. Matthes and Seitz, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-88221-796-0
    • Memories from my life. With an introduction by Tobias Straumann and an afterword by Wolfgang Somary. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-824-9

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Gerhard Schulz : From Brüning to Hitler. Between democracy and dictatorship. Volume 3: From Brüning to Hitler. The change in the political system in Germany 1930–1933. de Gruyter, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-11-013525-6 , p. 390
  2. ↑ Volume II, p. 1348
personal data
SURNAME Somary, Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-Swiss banker, economist and political analyst
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH July 11, 1956
Place of death Zurich