The Congress of German Economists ( or ''Kongress deutscher Volkswirte'') was an association of German

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

s founded in Gotha, in 1858. The model for the association was the British Anti-Corn Law League, founded in 1838 by Richard Cobden. The Congress' main cause was to promote

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

and the cooperative movement. Important members of the Congress were John Prince-Smith,

Julius Faucher Julius Faucher (13 June 1820 in Berlin – 12 June 1878 in Rome) was a German journalist and a significant advocate of liberalism and free trade. He was one of the first to advocate privatizing the security functions of the state, which would el ...

, Wilhelm Adolf Lette,

Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, also Hermann Schulze, (29 August 1808 – 29 April 1883) was a German politician and economist. He was responsible for the organizing of the world's first credit unions. He was also co-founder of the German Progre ...

Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim __NOTOC__ Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim (July 20, 1819 in Frankfurt – March 29, 1880 in Berlin) was a German publicist and philosopher concerned with the ideas of liberalism, free trade and international law. Oppenheim was son of a Jewish fam ...

and Karl Braun, who would chair most of the meetings. With the increase of international

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

at the end of the 19th century, the Congress lost most of its influence. The year 1879 was a disaster year for the German pro-free-trade movement, when Bismarck enacted the iron and rye tariffs and broke with the National Liberal Party.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Congress Of German Economists Liberal organizations

See also

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