Short answers, pulled from the story.
Wirtschaftswunder is a German word meaning "economic miracle." It refers to the rapid reconstruction and economic growth of West Germany and Austria after World War II. The term was first applied to this phenomenon by The Times newspaper in 1950. It is also known as the Miracle on the Rhine.
Ludwig Erhard served as West Germany's Minister of Economics from 1949 until 1963, then as Chancellor from 1963 to 1966. He is remembered as the "father of the West German economic miracle." He advised the government to cut taxes sharply on moderate incomes and issued a decree abolishing price controls, both controversial moves that proved central to West Germany's rapid recovery.
No. West Germany received about $1.4 billion under the Marshall Plan, mostly as loans, but this was far less than the approximately $2.4 billion per year West Germany paid to the Allies for the ongoing costs of occupation. The Marshall Plan likely contributed greatly to overall recovery, but the currency reform, tax cuts, and abolition of price controls are considered the primary drivers of the Wirtschaftswunder.
Operation Paperclip was a U.S. program launched immediately after Germany's surrender in May 1945 to collect German scientific and technical knowledge. All German patents, at home and abroad, were confiscated and licensed to Allied companies. John Gimbel's book Science Technology and Reparations estimated that the intellectual reparations taken by the U.S. and United Kingdom totaled close to $10 billion.
The purchasing power of wages rose by 73 percent from 1950 to 1960. Ownership of consumer goods spread widely: between 1962 and 1973, refrigerator ownership rose from 52 to 93 percent of households, television ownership from 34 to 87 percent, and car ownership from 27 to 55 percent. Unemployment hit a record low of 0.7-0.8 percent in 1961-1966 and again in 1970-1971.
Yes. Austria participated in the Marshall Plan and pursued a similar economic path, known as the Raab-Kamitz-Kurs after Chancellor Julius Raab and Finance Minister Reinhard Kamitz. Key policies included nationalising major industries such as VOEST, AMAG, and Steyr-Puch, stabilising the currency by reintroducing the Schilling, and investing in public works like the Kaprun hydroelectric plant and the West Autobahn.