Korea boom

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The term Korea boom describes the economic upswing, especially in the Federal Republic of Germany , as a result of the Korean War at the beginning of the 1950s. The Korean boom marked the end of the difficult phase of reconstruction of the West German economy after 1945. A hitherto unprecedented global post-war boom set in , which culminated in a boom phase that lasted until the early 1970s . The Korean boom was a central aspect of the German economic miracle .

requirements

This was preceded by a temporary economic crisis after the currency reform of 1948 in West Germany . The industrial production faltered, and the number of unemployed rose from less than one million to 2 million, which was 12% at the beginning of 1950. The federal government responded to this with an economic stimulus program worth 5.4 million DM. Even before this came into force, the war in Korea fundamentally changed the economic situation. Abroad, the demand for German products but also raw materials rose sharply. Arms-related products were particularly in demand. Domestically, there was a surge in demand for consumer goods .

Economic expansion

While the upturn in the West German economy so far has mainly taken place via the domestic market , growth was determined by foreign trade for the first time after 1945 . One advantage was that when the war broke out, Germany had idle production capacities. This gave the German economy decisive advantages over its competitors in the market. During the year 1950 the production numbers rose sharply. They were up to a third higher than in 1949. While industrial production in the first quarter of 1950 was only 96% of the level of 1939, in the fourth quarter of 1954 it was 174%.

The production restrictions for iron and steel products that had been imposed by the Allies after the war were lifted after the economy no longer adhered to them. Exports even increased by 200% between 1950 and 1952. In the 1950s, growth rates averaged 12% in the capital goods industry and 9% in the consumer goods industry.

The number of employees also increased significantly. However, this was initially not clearly noticeable in the decrease in the number of unemployed. In addition to regionally different economic structures, the reason was the high number of refugees from the GDR and Eastern Europe . In the medium term, unemployment fell from 12.2% in the first quarter of 1950 to 8.4% in the first quarter of 1953.

Problems

However, the boom also had problematic consequences. The acquisition of the necessary raw materials led, at least temporarily, to a considerable trade deficit . Soon the production capacities were also exhausted. This has been the case for iron and steel production since the end of 1950. The main reason was the lack of coal. At times this led to the rationing of the electricity supply and public management of coal was reintroduced.

The expansion of the production volume in the Ruhr area reached its limits during this time, because there was hardly any rationalization underground and the construction of new apartments was insufficient.

consequences

Ultimately, however, the Korean boom made a major contribution to overcoming the economic problems that arose in the course of the economic reconstruction process after 1945. In the middle of 1952, the West German economy showed self-sustaining growth.

This also had significant consequences for employees and society as a whole. By 1965, the real income of workers more than doubled on average. The unemployment gave way to a far-reaching already in the 1950s full employment .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see Ludger Lindlar: "The misunderstood economic miracle" Tübingen, 1997. P. 244 partially digitized

literature