Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The Bank Deutscher Länder was founded in March 1948 as the predecessor of the Deutsche Bundesbank (Buchheim 1998). New Deutsche Mark (DM) banknotes were printed in the United States. On June 20, 1948, the population received 40 DM per capita. Businesses and merchants received 60 DM per employee. Cash and bank deposits were exchanged at a ratio of 100 Reichsmarks to 6.5 DM; debt at a ratio of 100:10; and wages, prices, and rents at a ratio of 1:1. Thus, owners of physical assets such as goods, businesses, and real estate gained while savers lost. West Germany thus rapidly began to recover. The German stock exchange had remained closed since the end of World War II. The same thing happened to the Japanese one, which will reopen shortly after the German one, and as in the German case, with prices well below the closing prices of some before, having difficulty competing in an international market dominated by the Americans.
