This book examines the major moments punctuating OEEC history from the original offer of Marshall Aid in 1947 to the decision to create the OECD in 1960.

Fifty years after it was launched, the Marshall Plan remains a major event of post World War II history. But what did it actually do for European reconstruction? To commemorate the opening of its historical archives to the public and their deposit at the European University Institute (EUI), the OECD invited a group of EUI historians to analyse the role played by the Marshall Plan and the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) in the economic recovery of Europe. This book examines the major moments punctuating OEEC history from the original offer of Marshall Aid in 1947 to the decision to create the OECD in 1960. It offers a history of the European economic reconstruction and contributes to discussions on models of co-operation favouring economic development, trade liberalisation and world economic integration.

Fifty years after it was launched, the Marshall Plan remains a major event of post World War II history. But what did it actually do for European reconstruction? To commemorate the opening of its historical archives to the public and their deposit at the European University Institute (EUI), the OECD invited a group of EUI historians to analyse the role played by the Marshall Plan and the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) in the economic recovery of Europe. This book examines the major moments punctuating OEEC history from the original offer of Marshall Aid in 1947 to the decision to create the OECD in 1960. It offers a history of the European economic reconstruction and contributes to discussions on models of co-operation favouring economic development, trade liberalisation and world economic integration.

This book explores the history of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its place within capitalist development. Since 1948, the OECD and its forerunner, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) worked on almost every subject of interest to national governments ranging from economic growth to education (PISA rankings), statistics, to the environment. With varying success the OEEC/OECD thus played a key role as a warden of the West and of capitalist development. However, it has remained one of the least understood international organizations. Bringing together a number of case studies by scholars from around the world, this first source-based volume on the history of the OEEC/OECD in global governance offers not only a new understanding of the Organization’s key areas of activities, but also its multiple relations to member states, other international organizations, and private networks. The volume thus critically re-examines postwar international history, most importantly decolonization and the Cold War, through the prism of one international organization in its various contexts.

In this timely, cogent analysis of trends and powerful forces shaping global educational policy today, Joel Spring focuses on how economization is making economic growth and increased productivity the main goals of schools, and the ways these goals are achieved—including measuring educational policies by their costs and economic benefits, shaping family life to ensure productive workers and high-achieving students, introducing entrepreneurship education into curricula from preschool through higher education, and increasing the involvement of economists in educational policy analysis. Close attention is given to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and multinational corporations, which, as advocates of economization, want schools to focus on teaching hard and soft skills needed by the global labor market. Economization raises questions about the effects of economically driven agendas for schools: Will education policies advocated by global organizations and multinational businesses corporatize and standardize human personalities and families? What type of global worker is being sought by global organizations and multinational corporations? What education programs are supported to educate the ideal global worker? What is the ideal family life for economic growth and development? Detailing and analyzing the politics and motivations driving economization, the book concludes with an assessment of the impacts of the confluence of business interests, economic theories, governments, and educators.

The first comprehensive historical overview of the OECD's role in the concept of economic growth becoming an international norm.