Publisher’s Foreword

The author of this volume is Dr. L. Albert Hahn, an internationally known economist, who came to this country in 1941 after having lived in Germany and Switzerland. He is the author of the Volkswirtschaftliche Theorie des Bankkredits (Economic Theory of Bank Credit) which appeared in three editions, and of many pamphlets and contributions to scientific journals, as well as innumerable articles in well-known dailies. These writings covered the economic events in Germany from the days of the Great Inflation to the times of the Great Depression. He was one of the first to criticize the ill-fated monetary policy which led to the German inflation and he was one of the few who tried to fight the deflation policy of the Luther and Brüning era, which gave to the deflation crisis in Germany its special feature and paved the way for the subsequent Hitler movement.

Dr. Hahn’s publications attracted wide attention in Europe, the chief reason being that he was one of the few economists to unify practice and theory; for he was the leading manager of one of the largest and oldest provincial banks in Germany and, at the same time, taught Monetary Theory and Policy as Honorary Professor at the University of Frankfurt.

This book is published in the interest of making available to the American statesman, teacher, student, business employer and employee Dr. Hahn’s thoughts and observations on contemporary economic theory and policy.

SQUIER PUBLISHING COMPANY

February, 1949