Only 17 at the outbreak of World War I, Ludwig Erhard came from modest circumstances in Bavaria. He attended school only to junior secondary level, and then entered a commercial apprenticeship at 16.

Germany's business climate improved slightly in January, but expectations fell to a one-year low. Concerns over bureaucracy ...

As Germany's minister of economic affairs from 1949 to 1963, Ludwig Erhard crafted the plan for West Germany's post-World War II economic recovery, sometimes called the German "economic miracle." ...