The Irrelevance of Keynes to German Economic Policy and to International Economic Co-operation in the 1980s

Abstract

The West German economy has a very significant impact on the world economy, so the potential international repercussions of all domestic economic measures must be taken into account. Such repercussions may occur at two levels: they may concern the world at large, or they may be restricted to Europe. West Germany produces a relatively small fraction of world output, but a considerable proportion of the output of the European Economic Community. However at the world level the D-Mark has become a key currency with an importance that transcends Germany’s relatively modest share of world production, and West Germany has become one of the principal participants in international discussions which seek to arrive at the gradual evolution of new approaches to policy at both the European and the world level.