Lujo Brentano (1844-1931)

On Lujo Brentano see:

Lujo Brentano und die Ökonomien der Moderne

Zum Wandel wissenschaftlicher Darstellungsformen in der deutschen ökonomischen Tradition (1871-1931)

von Michael Seewald
Auflage 1. Auflage
Flexibler Einband
343 Seiten; Index; 22.5 cm x 14.8 cm
2010 Metropolis
ISBN 978-3-89518-829-9

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born December 18, 1844 AschaffenburgGermany
Died September 9, 1931 (aged 86) MünchenGermany
Fields Economist
Institutions University of Munich
Alma mater University of Göttingen Ph.D. Trinity College Dublin
Doctoral advisor Adolph Wagner Habitilation Johann Alfons Renatus von Helferich Ph.D.
Doctoral students Theodor Heuss Robert Kuczynski Werner Hegemann Fukuda Tokuzō Hans Ehrenberg

Lujo Brentano (18 December 1844 – 9 September 1931) was an eminent German economist and social reformer.

Biography

Lujo Brentano, born in Aschaffenburg into one of the most distinguished German-Catholic intellectual families (originally of Italian descent), attended school in Augsburg and Aschaffenburg. He studied in Dublin (TrinityCollege), MünsterMunichHeidelberg (doctorate in law), WürzburgGöttingen (doctorate in economics), and Berlin (habilitation in economics, 1871).

He was a professor of economics and state sciences at the universities of BreslauStrasbourgViennaLeipzig, and most importantly, Munich (1891–1914). With Ernst Engel, the statistician, he made an investigation of the English trade unions. After the revolution of November 1918, he served in prime minister Kurt Eisner‘s government as People’s Commissar (Minister) for Trade, but only for some days in December 1918. In 1914, he signed the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three.

Brentano died in Munich in 1931.

Legacy

Brentano was a Kathedersozialist (reform-minded) and a founding member of the Verein für Socialpolitik. His influence on the social market economy, and on many Germans who would be leaders just after the end of World War II, can hardly be overrated.

Note: It is often mistakenly claimed that Brentano was called Ludwig Joseph, and that “Lujo” was a kind of nickname or contraction. This is incorrect; while he was given his name after a Ludwig and a Joseph, Lujo was his real and legal first name. (See his autobiography, Mein Leben…, below, p. 18.)

Bibliography

  • Brentano, Lujo (1871–72). Die Arbeitergilden der Gegenwart. 2 vols., Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot. (English: On the History and Development of Gilds and the Origins of Trade Unions. 1870.)
  • Brentano, Lujo (1901). Ethik und Volkswirtschaft in der Geschichte. November 1901. München: Wolf.
  • Brentano, Lujo (1910). “The Doctrine of Malthus and the Increase of Population During the Last Decades.” Economic Journal vol. 20(79), pp. 371–93
  • Brentano, Lujo (1923). Der wirtschaftende Mensch in der Geschichte. Leipzig: Meiner. Reprint Marburg: Metropolis, 200ß
  • Brentano, Lujo (1924). Wege zur Verständigung – Der Judenhass. Berlin, Philo Verlag und Buchhandlung
  • Brentano, Lujo (1927–29). Eine Geschichte der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung Englands. 4 vols., Jena: Gustav Fischer.
  • Brentano, Lujo (1929). Das Wirtschaftsleben der antiken Welt. Jena: Fischer.
  • Brentano, Lujo (1931). Mein Leben im Kampf um die soziale Entwicklung Deutschlands. Jena: Diederichs. Reprint Marburg: Metropolis, 2004
  • Brentano, Lujo (1924). Konkrete Bedingungen der Volkswirtschaft. Leipzig: Meiner. 1924. Reprint Marburg: Metropols, 2003
  • Brentano, Lujo (1877-1924). Der tätige Mensch und die Wissenschaft von der Wirtschaft. Reprint Marburg: Metropolis, 2006