Originally published in 1940, this book remains an illuminating and forceful survey of the economic development of modern Germany. It reveals for the first time the basic trends of German business enterprise towards central control. This survey makes three important factors clear. Firstly, the continuity in the underlying trends of German history; secondly the characteristic prevalence of 'statism' in German history; thirdly, Nazism cannot be explained on purely economic grounds: no other county showed such a striking sequel of ups and downs as that which this book illustrates in the economic history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.