André Steiner – författare

The establishment of the Communist social model in one part of Germany was a result of international postwar developments, of the Cold War waged by East and West, and of the resultant partition of Germany. As the author argues, the GDR’s ‘new’ society was deliberately conceived as a counter-model to the liberal and marketregulated system. Although the hopes connected with this alternative system turned out to be misplaced and the planned economy may be thoroughly discredited today, it is important to understand the context in which it developed and failed. This study, a bestseller in its German version, offers an in-depth exploration of the GDR economy’s starting conditions and the obstacles to growth it confronted during the consolidation phase. These factors, however, were not decisive in the GDR’s lack of growth compared to that of the Federal Republic. As this study convincingly shows, it was the economic model that led to failure.

The establishment of the Communist social model in one part of Germany was a result of international postwar developments, of the Cold War waged by East and West, and of the resultant partition of Germany. As the author argues, the GDR’s ‘new’ society was deliberately conceived as a counter-model to the liberal and marketregulated system. Although the hopes connected with this alternative system turned out to be misplaced and the planned economy may be thoroughly discredited today, it is important to understand the context in which it developed and failed. This study, a bestseller in its German version, offers an in-depth exploration of the GDR economy’s starting conditions and the obstacles to growth it confronted during the consolidation phase. These factors, however, were not decisive in the GDR’s lack of growth compared to that of the Federal Republic. As this study convincingly shows, it was the economic model that led to failure.

Der wirtschaftliche Strukturwandel gehört zu den am häufigsten herangezogenen Erklärungsmustern für die Umbrüche im letzten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts. Im vorliegenden Band werden die gängigen Bilder vom Verschwinden der Industrie und dem Aufstieg des Dienstleistungssektors auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Dazu werden mit dem Maschinenbau, der Tonträgerindustrie und der Tourismusbranche drei historisch-vergleichende Fallstudien für die Bundesrepublik und die DDR vorgelegt, die jeweils der Industrie bzw. dem Dienstleistungssektor zuzuordnen oder zwischen diesen beiden Sektoren angesiedelt sind. Alle drei Branchen verändern sich im Strukturwandel des letzten Drittels des 20. Jahrhunderts erheblich, zählen aber weder zu dessen Verlierern noch zu den großen Gewinnern und wurden deshalb wissenschaftlich wie politisch bislang unzureichend wahrgenommen. Insbesondere wird gezeigt, wie der Strukturwandel - als ein makroökonomisches Konstrukt - in den Branchen wahrgenommen, vorangetrieben und verarbeitet wurde. Dabei zeigt sich, dass manche gewohnte Annahme in Frage gestellt werden muss.