Dear Readers
By Stefan Baron

With this editorial, I would like to say goodbye to you. As Theodor Fontane put it, "Words of farewell must be short - like a declaration of love." Let's make it short then - although there is a long time to look back on.

For 16 years, I was editor-in-chief of this journal. They were good years, not only but also because they were successful. Very successful, in fact.

Not only were we able to welcome many new readers and make WirtschaftsWoche Germany's leading economic journal, which also enjoys international renown in countries as far away as China. Facing strong opposition initially, we also ultimately fought to make our country, spoiled and thus turned rigid by wealth, once again more flexible, more cosmopolitan, more performance-oriented and more competitive - in short, more liberal.

Thus, we have succeeded in continuing a long and great publishing tradition which had from time to time almost seemed lost:

On October 1, 1926, the first edition of "Der deutsche Volkswirt" (The German Economist) was published in Berlin. This journal was to become "Der Volkswirt" (The Economist) in 1949 and finally, in 1979, WirtschaftsWoche. Founder and first editor-in-chief Gustav Stolper wanted it to be "a combination of 'Economist' and 'Nation.'" His friend Joseph A. Schumpeter, then a professor in Bonn and on his way to become one of the century's three most influential economists (the others being Friedrich A. Hayek and John Maynard Keynes), had demanded from Stolper that the new journal must "be a great thing or not be at all."

It was to be a great thing. Stolper, whose name is hardly known to anyone today, was then the country's most prominent journalist along with Theodor Wolff, decisively influencing the public discourse of the Weimar Republic. In spite of this, the Nazis came to power in 1933. Stolper sold his journal and immigrated to the United States. He was to return to his homeland only once, in 1947, as part of a small group of American experts that was to work out a plan for President Truman concerning Germany's reconstruction.

Gustav Stolper's suggestions became an important foundation for the Marshall Plan. However, Stolper was not around to see the plan's success. Neither did he live to see the continuation of  "Deutsche Volkswirt" (now without the addendum "deutsch") by his former co-worker Franz Reuter, who had survived the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, or the election of Theodor Heuss, another liberal companion, as the first President of the new Federal Republic of Germany.

"Der Volkswirt" was like its predecessor - small, but of considerable value. After the war, it played a great part in promoting the triumph of the social market economy led by Ludwig Erhard.

My colleagues and I are proud to have made WirtschaftsWoche into another strong liberal voice in this country over the past few years. Your trust and appreciation, dear readers, have made this possible. For this, I thank you today with all my heart. Please remain loyal to WirtschaftsWoche!

Europe's biggest economic power, the third biggest in the world and the world's export champion, needs this voice more than ever in the era of globalization.

WirtschaftsWoche is the journal of economic rationality in this country - as were its predecessors. This is its calling, its brand essence and its guarantee for success.

On this note, I wish the journal and its readers this parting wish: Ad multos annos!

Stefan Baron is Global Head of Communications for Deutsche Bank AG and was Editor of WirtschaftsWoche for sixteen years. Mr. Baron is also on the AICGS Board of Trustees.

A German version of this essay originally appeared in the May 26, 2007, issue of WirtschaftsWoche. It appeared in the June 8, 2007, AICGS Advisor by permission of the author and was translated by Anke Irgang.

For the original German version, please click here.