Gerhard Fels

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Gerhard Fels, 2007

Gerhard Karl Fels (born June 17, 1939 in Baumholder / Birkenfeld ) is a German economist and economist . He is a co-author and prominent representative of the turnaround in supply theory in Germany, was one of the five wise men in the Expert Council from 1976 to 1982 to assess macroeconomic developments and from 1983 to 2004 head of the Institute of German Economy in Cologne .

Youth and education

Gerhard Fels is the son of the farmer and sawmill owner Karl Fels and the seamstress and housewife Frieda Fels from Baumholder / Kreis Birkenfeld (Rhineland-Palatinate). On the father's side, the family comes from Baumholder (Rhineland-Palatinate), the mother Frieda was a daughter of the married couple Wilhelm and Charlotte Schug from Baumholder. Fels attended the Göttenbach high school in Idar-Oberstein . After graduating from high school in the spring of 1959, he served a year and a half in the Bundeswehr and was dismissed with the rank of lieutenant in the reserve. In the fall of 1960 he began studying economics, first at the University of Bonn , then at the University of Saarbrücken ; his diploma thesis for a degree in economics (1965 with Egon Sohmen ) dealt with the theory of factor price equalization in international trade. In rock academic 'and later professional mentor Herbert Giersch , he was in 1969 in Saarbrücken with the dissertation The international prize related to Dr. rer. pole. (Doctor of Economics and Social Sciences).

Gerhard Fels reads from the report on overall economic development in 1976, in which a supply-oriented economic policy was called for for the first time

Professional career

From 1964 to 1969, Fels was a member of the staff of the Expert Council for the Assessment of Overall Economic Development (SVR), which was established in 1963. From 1966 he worked there for three to four months a year directly preparing the annual report, the rest of the time he was assistant to Giersch at the Saarbrücken Institute for European Economic Policy.

Kiel years

In mid-1969, his teacher Giersch took over as president of the Institute for World Economy (IfW), which belongs to the University of Kiel. Fels followed him, as did other liberal economists from Saarbrücken. In 1971 he took over the management of the structure and world economy department there and was appointed deputy president of the institute in 1976. In addition to his work at the IfW, Fels taught as an honorary professor at the University of Kiel from 1974 to 1985. As one of only a few economists from Germany, Fels also earned international recognition. From 1978 to 1982 Fels was sent by the Development Ministry as the first German representative to the Committee for Development Planning of the United Nations ( New York ), a panel of 24 experts that was supposed to draw the attention of the various UN organizations to weaknesses in the world economy. Since 1981 he has been a member of the scientific directorate of the research institute of the German Society for Foreign Policy .

Expert Council

In June 1976, at the age of 37, Fels was appointed to the SVR as the successor to Norbert Kloten as a representative of the large economic research institutes, where he was significantly involved in the formulation of the supply policy concept of the Council of Five Wise Men - together with Armin Gutowski , Gerhard Scherhorn , Kurt Schmidt , Olaf Sievert . In particular, the 1976 annual report, which became widely known as a result, pleaded for a radical change of course in economic policy. The focus should no longer be on controlling aggregate demand , but rather on the supply side, i.e. H. the conditions for investment, research and development, innovation and skills. The report was also based on the Kiel research results on economic structural change. For the first time the term “ location Germany ” appeared, the abbreviation for the problem area of ​​supply policy. The rise in oil prices , the appreciation of the D-Mark and increasing imports from new emerging countries made the structure of the German economy in need of renewal. In addition, there was an increasing national debt due to economic stimulus programs .

While wide academic circles and politicians in Germany were initially critical of the new concept, the “revolution” took place abroad. In the UK started Margaret Thatcher and the United States Ronald Reagan a new economic policy on the basis of related conceptual ideas that came to the US under the new concept of "Supply Side Economics" expressed. There is no evidence that the Americans had noticed what the SVR had worked out as a supply policy in four annual reports. The attention that Thatcher's and Reagan's new economic policies received around the world only really focused on the older ideas of the Council of Economic Experts in Germany in the early 1980s. Milestones in the rethinking that began in Germany were z. As the Lambsdorff - paper , the change of government in 1982 and the consolidation of the former Federal Finance Minister Stoltenberg .

At the end of February 1982, Fels resigned from the Council of Experts, although the German government tried to keep him on the committee.

Institute of the German Economy in Cologne

In 1983, Gerhard Fels took over the management of the Institute of German Economy (IW) in Cologne as director and member of the executive committee from Burghard Freundefeld. Under Fels's 21-year leadership, the institute, which is financed by large companies and associations, has earned a reputation for scientific independence. The focus of research and publications has always been on the location issue in all its dimensions. Fels attached great importance to investigations with a solid theoretical foundation and a precise empirical basis. After the reunification of Germany, Fels was directly or indirectly involved in the transformation process of the run-down socialist system into a functioning market economy at various points; Among other things, he became a member of an advisory body to the last GDR Prime Minister , Lothar de Maizière , who also sought advice from West Germany in the course of the negotiations on the state treaty that led to the introduction of the D-Mark. Parallel to his work at the institute, Fels received an honorary professorship from 1983 at the University of Cologne , where he focused on teaching international business relations. In 1988 he was appointed to the renowned Group of Thirty in Washington, DC , and from 1991 to 1999 he was a member and since 1995 chairman of the advisory board of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo . On July 1, 2004, he handed over his position as director of the Institute for German Economics to Michael Hüther . On the occasion of the departure of Fels', the IfW organized a scientific symposium on the subject of supply-oriented economic policy in Cologne on June 22nd, including a lecture by the President of the European Central Bank , Jean-Claude Trichet .

Economic policy positions (excerpt)

In the nearly three decades in which Fels was a constant admonisher to strengthen the competitiveness of Germany as a location, many of his individual positions stimulated public discussions. He is a staunch opponent of a demand-oriented economic policy . In 1997, for example, he firmly rejected the so-called Zwickel proposal for a further reduction in working hours. In 1998 he became known as a critic of the economic policy stance of Schröder's candidate for chancellor . In 2002, Fels positioned itself as an opponent of the Mainz model of the Schröder government. Also in 2002, he called for the abolition of the store closing law . And in 2003 he stimulated the public discussion about the "... tax wedge ...", which "... has taken on downright scandalous proportions in Germany ...".

Functions (extract)

Gerhard Fels is or was a participant or member of the supervisory board or board of various committees and institutions:

family

In 1962 Gerhard Fels married in Baumholder Waltraut, b. Endres (* 1940). The couple has three children: Joachim Fels (* 1962), who works as Managing Director at Pimco , Florian Fels (* 1967) and Katrin Huppert (* 1970), b. Rock.

Gerhard Fels with his wife Waltraut on the day he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1998

Awards

Fonts (excerpt)

  • The international price context. A study on inflation imports in the Federal Republic. Dissertation. Heymann, Cologne [a. a.] 1969
  • with Bernhard Gahlen: Prosperity and stability with limited growth. Volume 1. Walter Raymond Foundation, Cologne 1976, ISBN 3-7616-0306-1
  • We are now behind the counter . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5 , 1977 ( online - Jan. 24, 1977 ).
  • with Klaus-Dieter Schmidt: The German economy in structural change. Mohr, Tübingen 1980, ISBN 3-16-343981-0
  • We can get into depression . In: Der Spiegel . No. 7 , 1983 ( online - Feb. 14, 1983 ).
  • with Wolfram Engels , Armin Gutowski , Wolfgang Stützel , Carl Christian von Weizsäcker & Hans Willgerodt : Proposals for a “Small Tax Reform”. Market Economy Foundation, 1983, ISBN 3890150012
  • with Achim Seffen & Otto Vogel (eds.): Social security. From the financial crisis to structural reform. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-602-34843-1
  • with Winfried Schlaffke (Ed.): Church and companies in responsibility for the problems of our time. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-602-34839-3
  • In the Tropic of Cancer. Treatise on politics and economics. Informedia Verlag, Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-921349-44-3
  • More flexibility on the job market. Institute for the World Economy, Kiel 1986, ISBN 3-925357-37-8
  • (Ed.): Church and economy in responsibility for the future of the world economy. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-602-34850-4
  • with Otto Vogel (Ed.): Do we need a new industrial policy? Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-602-34851-2
  • with Otto Vogel (ed.): Corporate taxation in the Federal Republic. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-602-14226-4
  • with Horst Lemke & Gerhard W. Wittkämper: Profession and labor law in the EC internal market. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-602-24897-6
  • with George M. von Furstenberg (Ed.): A supply-side agenda for Germany. Sparks from the United States, Great Britain, European integration. Springer, Berlin [a. a.] 1989, ISBN 3-540-50544-X
  • with Hans-Peter Fröhlich & Otto Vogel: Socially compatible design of the German-German currency union. Assessment. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-602-24001-0
  • Herbert Giersch. A lecture held at the invitation of the Society for the Promotion of the Institute for the World Economy on June 25, 1989 Mohr, Tübingen 1990, ISBN 3-16-145638-6
  • (Ed.): Orientation marks for the nineties. Lectures and panel discussion on the occasion of an Iw forum on October 16, 1989 in Bonn-Bad Godesberg. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-602-14269-8
  • Dead end or silver lining. Theses on the new business world. Informedia Verlag, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-921349-56-7
  • (Ed.): Location D. After unification - before the internal market. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-602-34858-X
  • (Ed.): Location factor freedom of movement. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-602-14338-4
  • with Winfried Schlaffke (Ed.): Location D: Education. Lack of skilled workers - abundance of academics. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-602-14340-6
  • with Winfried Schlaffke (Ed.): The market economy and its social components. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-602-34861-X
  • with Werner Dichmann (ed.): Social and economic functions of private property. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-602-34860-1
  • (Ed.): Welfare state in transition. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-602-14432-1
  • with Reinhold Weiss (Ed.): In a nutshell: Education - Economy - Society as reflected in the quote. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-602-14492-5
  • Location Europe. Sustainable in international competition. Inter Nationes, Bonn 2000
  • (Ed.): The service economy - an engine for growth and employment. Proceedings of the XIII. International Conference of Private Business Organizations. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-602-14521-2
  • with Friedrich Merz : Labor and Capital. GDA, Society for Marketing and Service of German Employers, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-936074-16-X

literature

  • Supply-oriented economic policy. Between scientific claims and political reality. Documentation of the scientific symposium on the occasion of the farewell of Professor Dr. Gerhard Fels on June 22, 2004 in Cologne. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-602-14631-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to Article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on June 17, 2009
  2. ↑ On the edge of the handover in autumn 1976 to the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in Bonn
  3. ↑ according to Difficult candidate search . In: Der Spiegel . No. 18 , 1982 ( online - May 3, 1982 ).
  4. ↑ "... I still remember quite clearly that it was Gerhard Fels who first uttered the term 'supply-side economic policy' at a meeting of the council in the summer or early autumn of 1976 . It was not yet the name for an alternative concept, but it was the keyword that summed up the reorientation in our heads at that time and looking for expression ... “, according to Olaf Sievert, From Keynesianism to Supply Policy , in: 40 Years of the Advisory Council 1963–2003
  5. ↑ according to Article in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit from January 15, 1982 (3/1982). There he is also quoted as saying: "You cannot spend the best years of your life in such a body."
  6. ↑ according to Article on Handelsblatt.com from June 6, 2004
  7. ↑ according to Article in the daily newspaper Die Welt on April 11, 1997
  8. ↑ according to Article in the daily newspaper Die Welt on March 7, 1998
  9. ↑ according to Article in the Berliner Zeitung of January 12, 2002
  10. ↑ according to Article in Focus Money magazine No. 43 (2002)
  11. ↑ according to Article in manager-magazin.de from January 17, 2003
  12. ↑ Short CV with PDF contributions  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the two discussion groups perestroika and unemployment@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.koerber-stiftung.de  
  13. ↑ according to Website ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the Herbert Giersch Foundation @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.herbert-giersch-stiftung.de
  14. ↑ according to Article  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the innovation report of October 20, 2008@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.innovations-report.de  
  15. ^ Bernhard Harms Medal. (No longer available online.) Ifw-kiel.de , archived from the original on April 13, 2014 ; Retrieved June 15, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ifw-kiel.de
  16. ↑ according to “The social market economy brand name has proven itself.” Gerhard Fels and Nikolaus Piper receive the Ludwig Erhard Prize. Plea for international regulatory policy , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of September 7, 2001 (p. 18)
personal data
SURNAME Fels, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fels, Gerhard Karl (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German economist and economist
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Baumholder