The Weekly Sage hopes to regularly bring brief profiles of key contributors to thought and faith before a Christian audience for historical education and awareness of valuable resources.

Wilhelm Ropke

–          “Economic integration – a network consisting of the division of labor, the mutual exchange of products and the specialization of production, coupled with the precarious dependence which it imposes on the individual worker – cannot extend further than the sphere of political, social and moral integration which guarantees a minimum of law, order, security, and dependable ethics. And conversely, political, social and moral disintegration, the decay of the indispensable extra-economic framework, will sooner or later entail economic disintegration.”[1]

–          “It cannot be too often emphasized that the combating of the depression must take place in the preceding boom and that once an over-investment has been allowed to develop in the boom we cannot evade the depression and must accept it as a necessary reaction to restore equilibrium. It would be radically wrong to combat this reaction by means of new injections of credit inflation: this would only postpone and make more difficult the final recovery of the destroyed economic equilibrium. In spite of all this, trade-cycle policy is never so popular as in the actual time of the crisis and depression.

The tragedy of this situation is that, just when the disturbing consequences of the cycle descend upon us, all that the economist can in general recommend is patience and confident waiting for the ultimate recovery from the depression, and he must give emphatic warnings against the thousand and one projects for escape which are wont to be conceived in this time in the brains of more or less fanatical reformers. The role into which the economist is thrust is an extremely thankless one.”[2]

Wilhelm Ropke (1899-1966) was perhaps the most versatile political economist of the first half of the 20^th century. Rarely is a scholar capable of writing technical, moral, and advocacy works of equal excellence, yet Ropke achieved such a feat with his books Crises and Cycles, A Humane Economy, and The German Question serving as clear examples of each. This accomplishment was reflected by a 1965 nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature, a recognition very few technical economists of first rank have likely ever received.[3]

This profound depth of intellectual capacity Ropke displayed was rooted in a sincere care for his fellow human beings. The son of a country doctor, Ropke’s works ripple with personal anecdotes from his childhood and adult life. Yet, despite the comfortable, loving upbringing Ropke received in rural pre-war Austria, his life was shaken by violence and change. Serving in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I shook the young scholar, and, like many of his colleagues, Ropke adopted socialism for a time. Serious study in economics at the University of Marburg caused Ropke to shake off this ideology in exchange for a broad liberal mindset, deeply shaped by a sincere, knowledgeable devotion to Catholicism.

As a result, when the next crisis, in the international economic system, shook Ropke’s world, he was able to respond with a strong defence of orthodox economic principle, coupled with a compassionate approach to the suffering of individuals around the globe. Nevertheless, the popularity of government experimentation meant Ropke’s advice was out of fashion, and he was forced to constantly shift his location of teaching, first in Jena, then Graz, next Marburg, then Istanbul, and finally Geneva.

Once safe in Geneva, Ropke commenced the extensive and impactful writing that defined his career. His tone is defined by fairness, balance, and respect, uniquely paired with a powerful style embracing an excellent balance between data, illustration, and argument. Criticizing the “megalolatry” and “cult of the colossal” that characterized the 20^th century, Ropke waged a battle in favour of a social order defined by Christian morals, free competition, impartial laws, local activity, and independent families. In so doing, Ropke constructed a meaningful “Third Way” between the early laissez-faire of the Industrial Revolution and the centralization and state control of Fascism and Socialism that developed against 19^th century capitalism.

This “Third Way” became known as “ordoliberalism,” and, unlike most if not perhaps all other intellectual systems of the 20^th century, had a significant, immediate, and positive practical impact. Ludwig Erhard, West German Minister for Economic Affairs, was an early adopter of Ropke’s though, put it into action quickly in post-war Germany, and achieved the significant gains and growth often characterized as an economic miracle contrasting with East Germany’s stagnation. Ropke’s role in this transformation was widely recognized,[4] and resulted in significant recognition, allowing him even to achieve the Presidency, from 1961-62, of the prestigious Mont Pelerin Society.

Thus, as a rare intellectual having an academic, popular, and public legacy, Ropke truly represents the idea of the sage. His example, especially as a devoted Christian pursuing and accomplishing the integration of his faith with his discipline, is a critical one for believers in all walks of life to follow. His works repay close reading today, whether for the student of economics, political science, history, or ethics, as well as any believer or citizen seeking an even-handed, intelligent approach to the modern world. More importantly, however, Ropke’s call to action by “housewives’ associations, consumers’ cooperatives, small traders’ organizations, schools and public bodies”[5] in reforming the social order of mass, collectivism, distance, consumerism, egoism, and isolation is a rallying cry which all citizens today would do well to understand and embrace.

–          “It was indeed an ingenious idea to apply the principle of nautical astronomy to economic forecasting, but there was one fatal flaw. For as long as we have not made a thorough investigation into the causal relationships between the time-series, the mere temporal sequence does not tell us any more than that something has happened in the past which might not happen in the future if some variables in the causal mechanism should change. But in investigating the causal relationships we are thrown back from empiricism to ‘theory’ in the deductive and analytical sense. Hence this whole procedure of the empiricist falls little short of the reasoning of the legendary army doctor who, being informed that a foot-soldier sick with typhoid fever had quickly recovered after having eaten by mistake a liberal portion of sauerkraut, decided that sauerkraut is a cure for typhoid fever. And many hasty attempts at introducing some sort of theory, after the flaw in the empirical procedure has been detected, come quite near to the reasoning of the same army doctor who, after having applied his recipe on an unfortunate lancer with fatal effect, corrected his first deduction by saying that everything depends on the kind of arms. A great deal more could be said on this subject to show that the whole idea of forecasting, whatever its methods, is based on a number of misconceptions which go far to rule it out as a useful undertaking.”[6]

–           “Economic freedom as an essential form of personal liberty and as a premise of everything that follows belongs undeniably to the total picture of a society which is diametrically opposed to collectivism. While this social order is necessarily based on economic freedom, other factors are also essential. In order to recognize the true antithesis of a collectivist society we must look far beyond economic freedom. We shall find it in a society in which the greatest possible number of people leads a life based on private property and a self-chosen occupation, a life that gives them inward and, as much as possible, outward independence, which enables them to be really free and to consider economic liberty as a matter of course. It is at the same time a form of society whose arbiters are not the proletarians – with or without white collars – not the vassals of a new industrial federalism and retainers of the state, but men who, thanks to their way of working and living, depend on no one but themselves and do not allow the affairs of the world to touch them; these are to be found among the best types of peasants, artisans, small traders, small and medium-sized businessmen in commerce and industry, members of the free professions and trusty officials and servants of the community. They set the tone not because they are a minority which has usurped power, but because their number will be so great that they will determine the character of society. Whatever one may think of it, no one will dispute that only such a society, and not one which is herded together in large cities, giant enterprises, tenements mass associations, trusts and monopolies of all kinds, represents the true antithesis of collectivism.”[7]

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[1] Wilhelm Ropke, The Social Crisis of Our Time, (UK: William Hodge and Company, Limited, 1950), 238.

[2] Wilhelm Ropke, Crises and Cycles, (UK: William Hodge and Company, Limited, 1936), 146.

[3] “The Nobel Prize nominees from 1965 are some of the most distinguished losers in history,” MashableAustralia, Mashable, accessed on November 9, 2018, https://mashable.com/2016/01/09/nobel-prize-nominee-losers-list/#a8s_bsdNmEqb

[4] John Attarian, “The maturing of a humane economist,” review of Wilhelm Ropke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist, by John Zmirak. Modern Age, Summer 2003.

[5] Wilhelm Ropke, The Social Crisis of Our Time, (UK: William Hodge and Company, Limited, 1950), 234.

[6] Wilhelm Ropke, Crises and Cycles, (UK: William Hodge and Company, Limited, 1936), 66.

[7] Wilhelm Ropke, The Social Crisis of Our Time, (UK: William Hodge and Company, Limited, 1950), 178.