Western Europe’s recovery from World War II was nothing short of miraculous. From the chaos of the war and the crisis of 1947, Europe moved directly to the most rapid quarter-century of economic growth in her history. The contributors to this volume seek to identify the sources of this singularly successful recovery. That all European countries shared in the miracle suggests that its roots may lie at the international level. The chapters therefore focus on the role played by international institutions - the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Payments Union, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - and weigh the relative importance of domestic and international factors in Europe’s postwar recovery. This book will be of interest to students of modern European history and to economists interested in economic growth, European economic integration, and reform of the Bretton Woods institutions.
• Includes compelling contributions by both economists and historians • Exposes the role of international institutions in Europe’s postwar economic recovery, and contrasts very different national experiences • Has major policy relevance to the debate over the Maastricht Treaty and the Single Market Programme, and to the reform of the Bretton Woods institutions
Contents
List of contributors; Preface; Part I. Introduction and Survey: 1. Mainsprings of economic recovery in post-war Europe Barry Eichengreen; Part II. The Marshall Plan: 2. The Marshall Plan reconsidered Lucrezia Reichlin; 3. Influencing aid recipients: Marshall Plan lessons for contemporary aid donors Chiarella Esposito; Part III. Other International Intitiatives: 4. The IMF and the creation of the Bretton Woods System, 1944–58 Harold James; 5. The GATT's contribution to economic recovery in post-war Western Europe Douglas A. Irwin; 6. The European Coal and Steel Community: an object lesson? John Gillingham; 7. The European Payments Union: an efficient mechanism for rebuilding Europe's trade? Barry Eichengreen; Part IV. Country Studies: 8. Germany and the political economy of the Marshall Plan, 1947–52: a re-revisionist view Helge Berger and Albrecht Ritschl; 9. 'You've never had it so good?': British economic policy and performance, 1945–60 N. F. R. Crafts; 10. 'Belgian miracle' to slow growth: the impact of the Marshall Plan and the European Payments Union Isabelle Cassiers; 11. France: real and monetary aspects of exchange rate policy under the Fourth Republic Gilles Saint-Paul; Part V. Synthesis: 12. Post-war Germany in the European context: domestic and external determinants of growth Holger C. Wolf; Index.
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