Kurt Richebächer was an international banker and economist. He considered himself a follower of the Austrian School of Economics and was best known for his newsletter, "The Richebächer Letter," which at various times also circulated as "Currencies & Credit Markets." Richebächer's father sent him to Great Britain before World War II to improve his fluency in the English language. He also wanted to gain an appreciation of what was required in a career in journalism. While in London, he developed a fascination with the study of economics. He returned to study in Berlin, and received a doctorate in Economics after the ending of the war.
Post-war years
After returning to West Germany, Richebächer became a media commentator on economics. In 1957 he returned to London to become a commentator on British economic policy. In 1964, he was appointed to the position of post of chief economist and managing director of Dresdner Bank, in Frankfurt. Richebächer provided economic advice to the clients of his employer. However, he was sometimes critical of the economic policy of the government of Helmut Schmidt. His supervisor, Jürgen Ponto, continued to support Richebächer's activities in researching and providing what he deemed to be accurate and correct economic commentary. In 1977, Ponto was the victim of a kidnap attempt by the left wing organization known as the Red Army Faction. This resulted in Ponto's murder. Some time after this event, Richebächer decided to leave DresdnerBank and offer his insight on a freelance basis. His farewell event at DresdnerBank, was attended by many prominent economists and bankers including Paul Volcker who was then President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and John Exter, a former member of the New York Fed, advisor to Central Banks and father of the Inverted Pyramid of Assets. During the last years of his life, Richebächer lived in France. He published a financial commentary service to subscribers titled "The Richebächer Letter", and made occasional contributions to the libertarian website "dailyreckoning.com". Richebacher was known for his frequently bearish views on the U.S. and global economies and his distrust of Wall Street's speculative excesses. He is considered a member of the Austrian Economists and owes a great deal to Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Exter. Kurt Richebächer died on August 24, 2007, at the age of 88.
