To what extent was Nazi economic policy ideologically driven?

The first 200 words of this essay...

To what extent was Nazi economic policy ideologically driven?

Nazi ideology was obviously a strong feature within the Nazi party and influenced many decisions that were made to do with foreign policy, domestic policy and arguably most importantly economic policy. For years now it has been debated as to whether or not Nazi economic policy was ideologically driven. It has been claimed that Schacht contributed as much as Hitler to the construction of the third Reich because he1 had "continued to support him even when prospects had not looked bright".The main aims that the Nazis had in terms of the economy were, autarky, militarisation, the increased importance of corporate over private business and the support of the Mittesland.It is clear to me that many Nazi economic policies were ideologically driven, however there were exceptions where economic policies were driven by other factors. Almost all of the Nazi pre-war economic policies had some element of ideology behind them. The other driving factors behind economic policy were support of the Mittesland, reducing unemployment and general economic stability. As you would expect many of the early economic policies were not ideologically driven because there was pressure on Hitler to deliver his pre-election