Stolper, Gustav

(1888-1947)

   economist and journalist; a critic of state control over German economic life. Born in Vienna to a Jewish banking official, he studied economics before taking a doctorate in law at Vienna in 1911. Al-ready writing for both the London-based Economist and the (Österreichischer Volkswirt (Austrian economist) as a student, he coedited the latter title for four-teen years. After teaching at Vienna's Handelshochschule, he led the research and statistical division of Germany's War Economics Commission during 1915-1918.

   A disciple of Friedrich Naumann,* Stolper endorsed economic liberalism and urged Anschluss with Germany in 1919 as central to Naumann's vision of Mit-teleuropa. In 1925 he went to Berlin* to edit the Berliner Börsen-Courier.He soon founded the Deutscher Volkswirt, an influential political and economic weekly, and served from 1926 as Berlin correspondent for the Economist.He was a member of the DDP and led the Party's executive committee in 1928-1929.

   Although Stolper was the DDP's expert on high finance, his October 1929 call for a renewed commitment to capitalism stemmed from his concern for German workers in the unfolding financial crisis. Moved by the depression* to increased political activity, he entered the Reichstag* in September 1930 as a member of the new DStP. While he was troubled by his Party's growing anti-Semitism,* he continued to support the DStP and retained his mandate until November 1932. Prohibited from publishing Volkswirt in March 1933, he sold the journal to Hjalmar Schacht* and emigrated to the United States. From Oc-tober 1933 he was active in New York both as a writer and as a financial advisor to European banking houses and private investors. Adjusting well to the United States, he took American citizenship in 1939 and became a friend and advisor to Herbert Hoover. His 1940 book, German Economy, 1870-1940, argued that German liberals, through their costly social demands, laid the foundation for Hitler.*

   REFERENCES:Benz and Graml, Biographisches Lexikon; Frye, Liberal Democrats; Larry Jones, German Liberalism; Stolper, Leben in Brennpunkten unserer Zeit.