2022/10/17 by Isabella M. Weber, Weber, Isabella M.
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Economic and Social Issues #Global Economic and Social Development
paper · doi:10.7275/esjy-dd86
openalex publication_date 2022/10/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
This paper develops a comparative and connected history of the debates over transition to a market economy in West-Germany after World War II and in China during the first decade of reform and opening up under Deng Xiaoping (1978-1988). At both historical moments the political aim was to reintroduce market mechanisms into a dysfunctional command economy. The question what kind of price reform this required was subject to heated debates among economists. This paper shows how the West-German 1948 currency and price reform was introduced into the Chinese reform debate by German ordoliberals and neoliberals like Friedman. It traces how the West-German case study was mystified as “Erhard Miracle” and became a metaphor for the vision of universal overnight price liberalisation in China – a core element of shock therapy.