Abstract

In the first part, the article compares two international payment systems: the Central Clearing established by Nazi Germany during the Second World War in occupied Europe (the so called European Greater Space); and the European Payments Union (EPU), set up by the OEEC countries in 1950. Although political differences between the two international payment systems are predominant, the author highlights some economic analogies. On the basis of this comparison, the second part of the articles discusses the debate on the creation of EPU within the German economic administration. As a result, personal and conceptual continuities emerge between the discussion of 1940 on the Greater Economic Space and the 1950-52 debate over the EPU.