Röpke played a pivotal role in raising Germany from the ashes of World War II and yet the typical economics student has never heard of him. Over fifty years ago he was warning the post-war Western world of the dangers of a mass culture, mass society and mass man; where the soul of man is neglected in pursuit of material gain; where the dignity of man is sacrificed on the altar of efficiency; and where the media is employed for the dissemination of economic and political propaganda aimed at directing and controlling the masses. Regrettably, the masses have not heard nor heeded his warning.
Röpke’s work
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The ISI published several of Röpke’s essays in their Modern Age journal in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
- Political Enthusiasm and Economic Sense: Some Comments on European Economic Integration; Spring 1958
- The Economic Necessity of Freedom, Editor’s comments; Summer 1959
- European Economic Integration and its Problems; Summer 1964
- The Place of the Nation; Spring 1966
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Ludwig von Mises Institute
The Mises Institute has a number of Röpke’s books in pdf format.
- Crisis and Cycles; 1936
- International Economic Disintegration; 1942
- The German Question; 1946
- International Order and Ecomomic Integration; 1959
- A Humane Economy; 1960
- Economics of the Free Society; 1963
- Against the Tide; 1969
Others’ Work
- “How Different Were Röpke and Mises?“, – Review of Austrian Economics 10, no 1 (1997)
- “Wilhelm Röpke: A Centenary Appreciation”, – The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty 49, no 10 (October 1999)
- Book Review:Classical Liberalism and International Economic Order: Studies in Theory and Intellectual History -Journal of Markets & Morality 3, no 1 (2000)
- Water in the Desert? – Review of Austrian Economics 17, no 4 (2004)
- Wilhem Röpke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist – John Zmirak
- Wilhelm Roepke (1899 – 1966) – Religion & Liberty 18, no 2 (2008)
- ISI Lecture Series – April 2008
Book Reviews
- A Humane Economy – Religion & Liberty 9, no 3 (1999), p 13
- A Humanist for our Time – Religion & Liberty 12, no 2 (2002), p 9
Bloggers
- The Western Confucian has compiled a list of his Röpke posts
Thank you! This is wonderful indeed – he’s my favourite among the Austrians.
Hopefully someday his Wikipedia page would be pepped up to reflect his stature.
btw Ropke’s major works are available for free at the Mises Institute website.
^ (as in, additions have been made – in particular, his “Humane Economy” is now made available)