Kurt Richebächer (1918 – August 24, 2007) was born in Karlsruhe, Germany. He studied business economics in Berlin and completed is doctoral at the University of Heidelberg in 1945. He began his career as a journalist, before becoming an international banker and economist. He considered himself a follower of the

Austrian School of Economics The Austrian School is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motiva ...

and was best known for his newsletter, "The Richebächer Letter," which at various times also circulated as "Currencies & Credit Markets." Richebächer's father sent him to Great Britain before World War II to improve his fluency in the English language. He also wanted to gain an appreciation of what was required in a career in journalism. While in London, he developed a fascination with the study of economics. He returned to study in Berlin, and received a doctorate in Economics after the ending of the war.

Post-war years

From 1945 to 1958, Richebächer was a economics journalist/commentator. Richebächer was one of the journalists covering Konrad Adenauer's 1955 visit to Moscow to reestablish diplomatic ties between the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1957 he went to London to become a commentator on British economic policy. In 1964, he was appointed to the position of post of chief economist and managing director of

Dresdner Bank Dresdner Bank AG was a German bank and was based in Frankfurt. It was one of Germany's largest banking corporations and was acquired by competitor Commerzbank in May 2009. History 19th century The Dresdner Bank was established on 12 Novemb ...

, in Frankfurt. Richebächer provided economic advice to the clients of his employer. However, he was sometimes critical of the economic policy of the government of Helmut Schmidt. His supervisor, Jürgen Ponto, continued to support Richebächer's activities in researching and providing what he deemed to be accurate and correct economic commentary. In 1977, Ponto was the victim of a kidnap attempt by the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

organization known as the Red Army Faction. This resulted in Ponto's murder. Some time after this event, Richebächer decided to leave DresdnerBank and offer his insight on a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

basis. His farewell event at DresdnerBank, was attended by many prominent economists and bankers including Paul Volcker who was then President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and

John Exter John Exter (September 17, 1910 – February 28, 2006) was an American economist, member of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System, and founder of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He is also known for creating ''Exter's Py ...

, a former member of the New York Fed, advisor to Central Banks and father of the Inverted Pyramid of Assets. In 1980 he published a book titled: "Im Teufelskreis der Wirtschaftpolitik" (publisher: Bonn Aktuell Gmbh), which provides a historical exploration of financial and economic crisis and explores the shift from free markets to what he considered – fiscal socialism. During the last years of his life, Richebächer lived in France. He published a financial commentary service to subscribers titled "The Richebächer Letter", and made occasional contributions to the

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

website "dailyreckoning.com". Richebacher was known for his frequently bearish views on the U.S. and global economies and his distrust of Wall Street's speculative excesses. He is considered a member of the Austrian Economists and owes a great deal to Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Exter. In 2006, two years before the

2008 recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, he commented: "A recession and bear market in asset prices are inevitable for the U.S. economy... All remaining questions pertain solely to speed, depth and duration of the economy’s downturn."Bezemer, Dirk J, 16 June 2009
"“No One Saw This Coming”: Understanding Financial Crisis Through Accounting Models"
/ref> Richebächer died on August 24, 2007, at the age of 88.

Published Books

* ''Börse Und Kapitalmarkt''. Frankfurt (am Main): Knapp 1971. 4th ed, ** Review : Kasten, Hans. "Book Review: Börse Und Kapitalmarkt." FinanzArchiv / Public Finance Analysis. 24.2 (1965): 376. * ''Capital Markets Study: Functioning of capital markets''. Paris & London: OECD H.M.S.O, 1968 * Dermitzel, Günther, Walter Damm, and Kurt Richebächer. ''Das Bankwesen Im Gemeinsamen Markt''. Baden-Baden: August Lutzeyer, 1962 * Richebächer, Kurt. Im Teufels Kreis ''Der Wirtschaftspolitik: Eiskalsozialismus Verdrängt Die Marktwirtschaft''. Stuttgart: Aktuell, 1980.

References

External links

Newsletter archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richebacher, Kurt Austrian School economists 2007 deaths German economists German bankers 1918 births German expatriates in the United Kingdom