Stolper was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He was born into a Jewish family that had immigrated from Poland to Austria.[3]
In 1913 he established Der Österreichischer Volkswirt.[4] Stolper and Joseph Schumpeter reportedly knew each other when they lived in Vienna in the 1910s.[5] In 1925, Stolper moved to Berlin.[5] In 1926 he established the Deutscher Volkswirt, the forerunner of Wirtschaftswoche weekly business magazine.[3][6] In 1929 he drafted a platform for the German Democratic Party geared towards the interests of the middle class; it was well-received but came too late to prevent the party's disintegration.[7]
The Gustav Stolper Prize is awarded by the Verein für Socialpolitik for "outstanding scientists who have employed the findings of economic research to influence the public debate on economic issues and problems, and have made important contributions to understanding and solving contemporary economic problems."[4]