He worked as an advisor to the Nazi regime and the German army, and contributed to discussions about the post-war economic order.

When he became more and more disillusioned with the Nazi regime, he withdrew to his academic research and turned towards religious sociological studies.

This resulted in a big volume entitled "Das Jahrhundert ohne Gott" (Century without God), published in 1948.

After 1952, he worked in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs under Ludwig Erhard (CDU) as section chief of the newly founded policy department (Grundsatzabteilung).

The failure of the negotiations for the United Kingdom to join the European Economic Community prompted his resignation that became effective in late 1963.