Auf die Shortlist für die Vergabe des Wirtschaftspublizistik-Preises der Hans-und-Traute-Matthöfer-Stiftung schafften es 2024 außerdem:

• Philip Banse, Ulf Buermeyer, Baustellen der Nation, Ullstein Verlag, 09/2023
• Maurice Höfgen, Teuer!, dtv Verlag, 03/2023
• Claudia Kemfert, Schockwellen, Campus Verlag, 02/2023

Hans Matthöfer Prize for Economic Publications 2024

The main prize for 2024 goes to Professor Isabella M. Weber for her book “Das Gespenst der Inflation. Wie China der Schocktherapie entkam” (published in English as “How China Escaped Shock Therapy. The Market Reform Debate”), and to Alexander Hagelüken for his book “Schock-Zeiten – Wie Deutschland den wirtschaftlichen Abstieg verhindert” (“Shock Times – How Germany Prevents Economic Decline”).

The jury's reasoning

In a detailed historical analysis, Isabella M. Weber explains how valuable it was for China to resist an often recommended (liberal) shock therapy and only gradually release controlled prices. The book is thus a contribution to a more differentiated understanding of economic development. It also forms a basis for Isabella Weber's politically highly relevant contributions to the recent debate on price brakes in a time of crisis-induced inflation and excessive price spikes.

Alexander Hagelüken covers a wide range of acute challenges and shocks in Germany - from the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and inflation to inequality and the threat posed by populists. He emphasises that the crises cannot be overcome solely in economic terms and on the basis of market-liberal theories. In the long term, we need prosperity whose distribution is perceived as fairer.

Award ceremony 2024: https://www.fes.de/en/day-of-progressive-economic-policy