100 Years of Applied Economic Research in Austria – From the Beginnings to the Present

WIFO's century-long history is inseparably linked to the history of the Austrian economy. The institute has always operated at the intersection of the demands and expectations of politics on the one hand and academia on the other. At the same time, the theoretical foundations and conceptual frameworks on which scientific assessments are based are themselves historically and temporally bound. What role does this imply for an independent institute?

This question arose in 1938 with the "Anschluss". Prominent staff members of the institute were dismissed for political and anti-Semitic reasons; from then on, WIFO became an information center for the National Socialist economy. Historian Gunnar Take's keynote address, "Viennese Economic Research and Policy Advice under National Socialism, 1938-1945", is the first to focus on this period.

Even today, economic expertise is shaped by language, narratives, and patterns of interpretation. Interests and power dynamics cannot be ignored in this context. This spans the spectrum from the overt political co-optation of economic research under National Socialism to the more subtle discursive mechanisms that also shape democratic societies.

In the subsequent panel discussion, "Economic Crises and Economic Research", these themes will be brought together to discuss how economic research has positioned itself – and must position itself – over the course of a century between academic rigor and political co-optation.