Kurt Richebächer (1918 – 24 August 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 school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with their ...

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 Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. He returned to study in Berlin, and received a doctorate in Economics after 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, founded in 1872 in Dresden, then headquartered in Berlin from 1884 to 1945 and in Frankfurt from 1963 onwards after a postwar hiatus. Long Germany's second-largest bank behind Deutsche Bank, it was eventually ...

, in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. 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 Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was the longest ...

. 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 organization known as the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

. 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 Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chair of the Federal Reserve, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely ...

who was then President of the New York

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

Bank, and John Exter, 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 ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

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 Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; ; September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian-American political economist and philosopher of the Austrian school. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the social contributions of classical l ...

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

and Exter. In 2006, before the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

, 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 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

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: Fiskalsozialismus Verdrängt Die Marktwirtschaft''. Stuttgart: Aktuell, 1980.

References

External links

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