Journal of Economics and Development Studies

Morals and Money: Ideology and Pragmatism in the Kennedy Administration’s Settlement of the Interhandel-General Aniline &Film Case 1962-1965.
Declan O’Reilly (Ph.D., Cantab.)

Abstract
In 1965, General Aniline and Film Corporation, the longest lasting hangover from the Alien Property Custodian‟s seizure of German property n WW2, and pre-war affiliate of the German Chemical combine IG Farben, was sold by the US Justice Department for $320 million. As part of the deal the US gave Interhandel, a Swiss Corporation, (owned by the Union Bank of Switzerland) more than one third of the sale price. This settlement came as a surprise to most commentators, who had assumed that the US was fully justified in seizing enemy property in time of war. Moreover, the US had constantly claimed that Interhandel was nothing but a financial cloak, designed by IG Farben to conceal German assets; an ideological proposition built on a conspiracy explanation for German militarism, which identified IG Farben as an industrial foot soldier in Germany‟s drive for world domination. As a result, GAF was a running thorn in the side of the Swiss-American body politic, with both sides accusing each other of bad faith. In fact, the deal had taken years to negotiate, with Robert Kennedy offering a complex settlement formula that would see the Swiss getting a large share provided the company was sold at a high price. This reflects Robert Kennedy‟s pragmatic belief that settlement was better than trial confrontation. In this sense the morality of a sale took second place to its utility and illustrates the complexities of mid-20th century US political economy.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jeds.v8n2a3