The Economic Miracle of Liechtenstein. The Rapid Modernisation of a Small National Economy in the 20th Century

Fachbereich(e):
History
Forschungsbereich(e):
Economic History
Hauptverantwortliche Person(en):
Prof. Dr. phil. Christoph Maria Merki
Ist abgeschlossen:
Ja

Only a hundred years ago, the Principality of Liechtenstein on the edge of the Habsburg Monarchy led a rather meagre existence and was not recognized as sovereign by the other States. Today, Liechtenstein is a prosperous microstate with a seat in the United Nations and whose inhabitants are on average richer than anyone else in the world. How did this economic miracle come about? What did resourceful entrepreneurs have to do with what neighbouring Switzerland, with which Liechtenstein has been linked in a customs union since the time after the First World War, what the Prince with his great power, what the financial centre, which attracts funds from all over the world?

 

Merkis' research describes for the first time Liechtenstein's leap into modernity: from its hesitant start in the 1920s, through the booming development of the 1950s and 1960s, to its landing on an island of prosperity in the 1990s.

 

Project duration: 2002 to 2006